Kingdom Hearts: Sin Angel
by The Ansem Man
Summary: [Sequel to Chaos Angel] The true chronicles of the many heroes and villains that cross paths with the mysterious group not unlike the Organization, the Sin Angel. AU to CoM and KH2.[Ep 7: Negima arc concludes]Read and Review, please!
1. Prologue: Symphony of Voices

**Kingdom Hearts: Sin Angel**

**Prologue: Symphony of Voices**

(A/N: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any character not created by me. This is a sequel to Kingdom Hearts Chaos Angel, so if you haven't already read that, you should do so; this might make more sense to you.)

Three months ago… his voice left me.

Three months ago… more Princesses of Heart fell to the darkness, their lives ended by the tyranny of the dark.

Three months ago… I decided.

This time, I'll fight.

-----

The darkness is such an ironic thing.

I've only seen him once, the child, the wielder of darkness. His eyes like mine.

Despite the beauty of darkness, it became the thing that separated me from my son, and his son from him.

Only now, as I observe the darkness, as I continue to study the Heart and the Soul, do I see the connection between me, my son, and the curious wielder with eyes like mine.

Such is why I'm grateful that the Dark Swan will return.

I can see my grandson once again.

-----

Three months in darkness… eternal darkness?

Not while I'm still me, not while I'm still thinking.

Kairi, are you out there? It's me. I need your help once more.

But I'm not alone in the darkness. I met this kid. The wielder of the dark.

Together we talked, we fought, we watched each other's memories.

And as for freedom, when I leave this darkness and find you…

We can save the universe.

We'll go together.

-----

Abandoned memories, abandoned friends… all I fought for.

Even Rob and Sora forgot me… or are they dead?

What I get for being selfish.

Maybe darkness or light ain't the way to go.

Maybe I have to awaken from this my own way.


	2. Episode 1: Sin Angel Live

**Kingdom Hearts: Sin Angel**

**Episode 1: Sin Angel… Live**

Three months ago, they had won one of their greatest victories.

Three months ago, the Darkness had succeed where Light had failed, and Evil had finally triumphed over Justice, or so said the more dramatic villains. The Keyblade masters had been defeated on Planet Earth, and Shishio had successfully scattered the rest of the heroes – some had already been eclipsed into the Darkness. Slade had been disappointed that the Titans hadn't been on either of those lists, but they would fall eventually. Terra reported that they had split up in hopes of "finding help" or some other weak excuse. Neither of them really cared.

Slade knew, however, that the victory they had scored was too good (and too simple) to be completely true. There HAD to be some factor that he and the rest of the villains were forgetting. Though the other villains were content with resting on their laurels, thinking of the darkness they had sent to swarm countless worlds, Slade was carefully reviewing the intelligence Terra gave him. Brother Blood and his army of light were playing a defensive game, so they weren't his immediate concern.

The only other villain to share Slade's worry was Ridley, and he only cared because he hadn't had the pleasure of hearing any sort of news about his archnemesis, Samus Aran. The Space Pirate leader flew in, apparently furious about something. "This is SHIT!" he screamed, pounding his fists in rage. Slade kept calm, but this seemed to anger Ridley even more, since he started screaming at Slade again. "Within the past three months there's been NO WORD on the Hunter, that Princess of Heart with a Keyblade just evaded us for the thousandth time, and Kraid's STILL eating us out of all of our food!"

"Calm yourself, Ridley," Slade answered in a monotone. However, something crossed his mind. "Repeat that little speech again."

"I SAID, 'This is shit. No word on Samus, that princess with the Keyblade is still evading us, and Kraid needs to keep his fat ass away from the fridge.'"

"Princess with a Keyblade…" Slade glared. "How come we didn't know this? I didn't know this?.!"

"Hey don't look at me! They only told me a few days ago that there was a Princess of Heart with a Keyblade on Little Planet! Do you know what this means!"

"I know perfectly well what that means – all of our plans will go under and our victories will mean less than nothing if that Princess manages to succeed where the other Keyblade masters failed," Slade paused, pondering his next move. "Unfortunately plunging Little Planet into darkness wouldn't be a strategic move. Our numbers are still too weak there to launch a takeover."

Suddenly, a large racket interrupted their meeting as a lone, panicky space pirate entered their lair. "Sir!" He panted, facing Ridley.

"WHAT." Ridley glared at his subordinate, snarling, and teeth gleaming. "This better be good."

"We have intruders in Hades' lair."

"Intruders? In this place?.!" Ridley gaped. He turned to Slade. "Hades is gonna try and kill us for this."

"Guys, guys, relax!" The Lord of the Underworld himself appeared, gliding across the floor towards the other two. "One of those Chaos Saint guys told me two of his sidekicks were supposed to be showing up here around this time. I'm guessing this 'attack' would be them."

"The Chaos Saints?" Slade asked. The Chaos Saints were even more mysterious to them than he himself had been to his cohorts. Three months ago mysterious hooded figures had showed up on Earth, sometimes helping them (giving them advice about the Keyhole) and other times getting in their way (one helped defeat Captain Hook.). All villains agreed that their enigmatic actions had become a nuisance. This meant only one thing: they needed answers. Immediately. "They're falling right into our laps. I'd say that's a good thing, but keep your guard up. I have a feeling they're not here to audition for a sidekick role."

"I got that covered," Hades grinned. "Pirates! Come with me," Hades snapped his fingers and disappeared in a swirling blaze of fire. Ridley nodded towards his cohort, giving consent to the temporary change in command. The Space Pirate scampered off.

"This is an act too good to miss." Walking towards the cauldron, Slade snapped his fingers, activating the device, which showed two cloaked strangers entering the Underworld. "Let's be a good audience and watch." Ridley perched opposite of Slade, eager for the show to start.

------

Earlier that day, HAL Laboratory had finally reached completion.

Well, it looked complete, at least. As far as Riku could tell as he and the purple-haired Raven approached the mighty building, the imposing structure was done. From what he could see from the outside, it was a technological wonder, created from the nearby ruins of Eggman's former lair. The silver-haired boy noticed an uncanny resemblance to the Olympus Coliseum in one of the sections.

Both he and the Titan Raven were draped in the Sin Angel uniform, a faded black overcoat adorned with gleaming silver pull-strings that bore the Sin Angel insignia. The symbol, which looked like a swirl with lined wings, was just small enough to fit in Riku's hand as the teenager looked at it yet again.

It'd been some time since he'd become a member of this shady organization, which he had first joined when he and King Mickey had been trapped inside Kingdom Hearts. He couldn't quite figure out what they were trying to do, just that they had a means of helping him controlling his growing powers of darkness. King Mickey agreed to join simply to follow Riku, seeing as "the darkness wasn't all bad", as the king had once said.

His current understudy, Raven, while not one of the 13 Chaos Saints, had joined the group shortly after the fall of Earth. She claimed she was looking for answers about the Heartless and her own darkness. Riku suspected she had another motive, but decided to plead her case to the big boss anyway. The rest, as they say, was history.

Now the two of them stood before the doors of HAL Laboratory. Miss Oni, the head Chaos Saint, had told them to check on things and distract any would-be villains while the other Chaos Saints went to Little Planet to assist Kairi. He was disappointed that he didn't get to protect Kairi himself, but he was glad the girl had survived the last three months without getting injured. "Here goes nothing." Riku knocked on the door sharply three times. After the third knock, he noticed the door creak open a little. "Ummm…" Riku blinked.

"That looks inviting," Raven droned in her usual sarcastic manner.

They walked into the foyer, a grand room which had neatly organized chairs and an office desk/window towards the left of the room. There were three doors, two small ones that led to either side of the front door and one very large one right to the back. The grayish-white room sat in silence, with only the hum of technology reaching the teens' ears.

That, however, didn't last long as the big door began to open up, creaking and groaning. Riku and Raven tensed, not certain on what was on the other side of the looming doors.

The door opened further… and out backed a short man, wearing a red shirt and blue-jean overalls. He adjusted his red cap as he backed away from what seemed like an invisible enemy.

The short man looked back. Seeing Riku and Raven, he barked in a slight Italian accent, "Get back, it's-a coming!"

Riku backed away, not sure why he was listening. "What's coming?"

Just then, a humongous ghost faded into view. As ghosts go, it was rather unusual. It had four arms, each holding a large candle. It had what looked like two antenna sticking out of its head. However, Riku recognized it as a Heartless; it bore the Heartless symbol on its chest and it had the trademark bulbous yellow eyes and jagged mouth. The creature known as the Grand Spectre hissed, and all four candles lit simultaneously.

The short man got into a fighting stance. Seeing this, Riku and Raven ran to his side. "We can help fight this thing." Riku said. Raven answered by letting her hands flare with her dark power.

The man nodded. "Fine with me."

The creature struck first. It extended an arm, trying to smash the three of them with a flaming candle. All three jumped out of the way in different directions. Riku shot his hand forward, yelling. "Ya!" he shouted, and a searing blast of dark energy, known to him as Dark Firaga, plowed into the ghost, who flinched back from the dark flames. Raven whipped her hands in a sweeping motion, sending dark waves towards the creature.

Unfortunately, it dodged, and charged right towards Raven with its arms outstretched. The girl flew to the left, quickly evading the attack. "That's not gonna work," she taunted as the ghost charged her again. Sweeping her arm again, she blocked a round of punches from the Grand Spectre with a barrier of dark magic.

The short man made an adept leap all the way to the ghost's face and smashed it with a fire-laced punch. The Grand Spectre flew back quite a distance before stabilizing itself. The ghost brought its four candles together. It puffed up with air…

…and blew at its candles, creating a mighty flamethrower. Riku scrambled back before the flames could devour him, the short man back-flipped repeatedly out of harm's way, and Raven created a shield around herself.

When the attack was over, Riku saw that the furniture and the floor remained undamaged. "The furniture's fireproof!"

"Thought of it myself," the short man answered as he dodged yet another swipe from the Grand Spectre. He chucked a fireball at the creature, but it blocked the attack. It swiped at him again, but this time Riku interfered, blocking the strike. The short man grinned as he delivered another punch to the ghost's face.

Unfortunately, the Grand Spectre was getting pissed. Focusing its power, it hissed, and the flames on its candle grew bigger. It swiped at the short man and Riku, who both underestimated the reach of the attack, and as a result, crashed into the ground.

Raven took the moment that the ghost was ignoring her to focus her powers. She reared both hands back before chanting, "Azarath… Metrion… ZINTHOS!" With a mighty burst of dark energy, Raven fired a dark beam that tore into the ghost and damaged it severely. The Grand Spectre countered with another flame thrower, but Raven dodged the attack, quickly flying in another direction.

The mighty ghost focused its powers again. This time it waved its candles separately, gathering power and forming a giant fireball. It weaved its magic, turning the mass of energy into a giant wall of fire and sending it straight towards the other three! Raven calmly countered by making her own wall, sending it against the ghost's and locking it into a stalemate.

Riku recovered, and examining where the ghost had burned him, remarked sarcastically, "That's going to recover well." Surprisingly, the burns were minimal. "Okkaaayyyy maybe it will," he added as he saw Raven trying to hold back the wall of fire.

Raven looked back at Riku. "Can't do this all day, you know!"

"Don't worry, we're on it!" The short man said in his accent. He started running towards the wall of fire.

"What're you doing?.!" Riku asked as he ran after him.

"Follow my lead," the short man answered. Picking up speed, the man rolled through the fire and darkness mixture to the other side.

"I could've thought of that," Riku muttered to himself as he followed suit.

Both stood up and looked towards the creature, measuring it up. "It's-a weak. Let's-a finish it!" The short man said. He shot his fist forward, unleashing a large fireball.

Riku followed suit with a burst of Dark Firaga. Both attacks combined and plowed right into the creature's side, stopping its fiery assault. It began to shake uncontrollably before it faded out of existence, its stolen heart flying to freedom.

The chaos having ended, Raven flew down to the ground, meeting Riku and the man in red. "Thanks for your help!" The short man said. Taking a look at the two of them, he asked, "But who are you two anyway?"

"I'm Riku, and this is my… apprentice, Raven," the silver-haired boy answered. Raven added a brief "Hi," internally amused at Riku. "We're looking for friends here."

"Ah," the stranger nodded in understanding. "I'm-a Mario, one of the top officers of the Super Smash Brothers games." He then whispered in a conspiratorial fashion to Riku, "I'm also the unofficial head plumber here."

Riku, not sure of what to make of this news, simply chuckled. "Nice. Our umm… boss told us a bit about this place."

"Can we see it?" Raven asked bluntly, taking the words right out of Riku's mouth and adding a lot of straightforwardness to what he would've said.

"Of course you can!" Mario answered. "Come this way," Mario turned around and pushed forward the large doors, revealing the main Coliseum. Riku and Raven stared in awe as they took in their surroundings.

The Coliseum was both an aesthetic and technological wonder. Its bleachers were a gleaming, pleasant silver and the Coliseum's silver floor was lined with what looked like a slightly glowing green grid. "This is our Main Coliseum. Ninety-nine percent of our battles take place here. Doesn't look like much now, but wait 'til you see it in action! HEY GAME AND WATCH!" Mario called to the other side of the stadium.

Riku heard something click and beep in response. He looked to the other side to see a vague shape inside the window. The vague, black, humanoid shape that was Mr. Game and Watch waved to Mario. Mario then shouted, "Show them the Fountain of Dreams stage!" The black shape clicked, giving a thumbs-up, before tapping some buttons and throwing a switch.

At once the Coliseum began to morph. The bleachers extended backwards, and a good portion of the stadium began to rise up from the ground. The scenery changed as well, forming into a beautiful fountain with a gloriously multi-colored tree sprouting on one side of it, the branches extending over the fountain. Running water gushed from the illusory fountain and sustained three floating platforms. Riku blinked in amazement as the Fountain of Dreams reached completion.

"To say that I'm impressed is an understatement," Riku continued to blink in awe.

"I was impressed even when there was nothing…" Raven added.

"Why Mario!" The three of them turned to see a young, blond woman walking towards them. If her pink dress, large brooch, and shapely body didn't show her femininity, then her voice sure did (so much that Raven's eyes began twitching). "You didn't tell me we were accepting challengers already, I could've greeted them by the door!"

"Peach!" Mario greeted his friend (friend or girlfriend, Riku couldn't decide which, although he'd have to be a fool for it not to be the latter). "They weren't here for the competition, I don't think." He glanced towards Riku, looking fro conformation.

"The competition?" The teenaged boy asked. "When's it starting?"

"We were hoping to start within the end of the week," Mario explained. "Unfortunately we've had Heartless swarming from somewhere nearby. Us Smashers have had our hands busy trying to smash them down."

"Hercules says Hades might have something to do with those Heartless," Peach pointed out. "He says there's a connection to the Underworld nearby here!"

"What? Why didn't he say something!" Mario exclaimed.

"I didn't say anything because the Underworld's my responsibility!" Riku looked to his left to see the visage of the mighty Hercules himself in the distance. The demi-god dropped down from the bleachers before walking boldly to the small group. "And besides, if all the other Smashers learned about the Underworld they'd try to lead a full frontal assault, and Hades and his band of Heartless would doom us all on his home turf."

"You got a point there," Mario muttered, remembering the general aggressiveness of the Smashers.

"Hey, I haven't seen you two around here before," Hercules looked at Riku and Raven. "What are your names?"

"I'm Riku," the teenager shook hands with Hercules. "I've heard about you, at least, back in the days when I thought Hades wasn't the bad guy," Riku shyly admitted.

"I'm Raven," the girl stated flatly, clearly bored. "I'm with him."

"Don't worry about it, you know Hades is up to no good now, right?" Hercules grinned. "Besides, you need to help me to convince Mario not to let the other Smashers get wind of the Underworld, they might try to take it over."

"Umm… about that… Raven and I actually have to GO there," Riku confessed, shrugging.

"That's insane!" Hercules exclaimed immediately. "Why?"

"Distract him. He's sorta expecting us, so we decided to show up while we have someone else on a mission," Riku explained. "Those clowns in the bad guy department have been scratching their heads over who we are. After many months of planning, we're ready to go universal."

"Sin Angel's going live," Raven recited a tagline she once heard one of the members use before. A very faint grin played on her lips. "And we're open for business."

"Sin Angel?" Asked the other three, their interest immediately captured by the mention of something they'd never heard of.

"Yeah," Riku grinned. "We're what you would call… entrepreneurs. And our first order of business is to usher in the return of the legendary Keyblade Master Sora. We need to distract Hades so he doesn't catch on what our friend's doing and interfere."

"Sora's going to return?" Hercules asked, somewhat disbelieving. "A couple of Smashers say he was on Earth when it fell to darkness. You're saying he's going to come back?"

"Yeah," Raven confirmed. "That's why we need to go distract Hades. Will you tell us where the Underworld is?"

"Okay…" Hercules finally said. "I can't follow you or guarantee your safety beyond the entrance. The Heartless seem to gravitate towards me…"

"Don't worry about it," Riku gave Hercules a reassuring grin. "We got it from there."

"I hope you two can take care of yourselves as good as you say you do," Mario looked at the teenagers skeptically. "You lasted against that Grand Spectre Heartless, but against Hades' elite?"

"We're not planning on fighting Hades' elite," Raven responded. "I think he'll let us get in scot free when we show him an offer even he can't refuse."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Take care," Peach added pleasantly as Hercules and Riku turned to leave, causing Raven to flinch in annoyance. She quickly flew up and followed Hercules in a hurry to escape Peach's sugary voice.

----

The Underworld wasn't the most inviting place in the universe. There was a welcoming committee to greet Riku and Raven, but a welcoming committee was uncommon.

Unfortunately, said welcoming committee was in fact, a brigade of Space Pirates, and all were anxious to tear the cloaked intruders a new one. Riku and Raven had barely entered the Underworld before they started to fire rapidly at Riku and Raven. No wonder Hercules was reluctant to lead them here, let alone the Smashers!

The dark-haired Raven reacted first and put up a barrier, blocking the rapid fire of the Space Pirates. Riku thrust his hand forward, letting loose a dark Firaga that took out the Space Pirates that had run ahead of the rest. The attack billowed smoke all over the place, obscuring the vision of the other Space Pirates.

That's when Raven shot forward and attacked.

A swipe of her dark power and a Space Pirate instantly fell. The others saw their comrade fall and began shooting in her general direction. Riku followed from behind with a slice from his Soul Eater and taking down another Pirate. Of course the intergalactic brigands countered with their own weapons fire, but the two teenagers were far too quick to hit. More waves of darkness and slashed from the Soul Eater ended more Pirate lives.

However, the empty stillness that greeted the two of them after they had killed the last of the Space Pirates was only a false sense of security. Five seconds later, Riku and Raven were staring down the business end of over fifty Space Pirate weapons.

"You know, this whole house guest thing is overrated, so Ridley let me borrow some of his troops to waste the guests with," Riku heard a familiar voice.

"I thought you had better manners than this, Hades," Riku raised an eyebrow at the Lord of the Dead, who appeared in a spectacular flash of flames.

"Riku! Hey, how's it goin'? Long time no see!" Hades greeted the teenager like an old friend, much to his (or Raven's) surprise. Spotting Raven, he turned to her as well. "And who's this lovely dark lady you've brought with you?" He shook her hand almost enthusiastically. "Hi, I'm Hades, Lord of the Dead, hi howya doin'?"

"Yeah… I'm Raven," Raven blinked, not quite sure how to greet someone possibly just as terrifying as her father.

Hades suddenly shifted conversation by addressing Riku's statement. "I would've thought YOU had better manners than barging in my lair without knocking, and killing off Space Pirates, no less." The groans of the fallen Space Pirates seemed to make a chorus in response to Hades' statement. The Pirates still standing roared in anger over their fallen comrades. "So what brings you to this lovely abode of mine, eh? 'Fraid I can't let you trash Captain Hook again, I've got a _nasty_ little friend of mine who'd tear you to pieces. That Cloud learned that the hard way."

Riku almost growled in anger, having heard of the many losses from Earth, including Cloud's fall into darkness. He pushed down his anger before calmly saying, "We've got something for you. You remember the Chaos Saints, right?"

"How could I forget? Didn't one of you nearly compromise our operation in the Mansion of Souls?" Hades pretended to think. "Oh yeah, it was YOU, WASN'T IT?.!"

"He catches on pretty quickly," Riku murmured to Raven, who nodded in agreement. He then turned back to Hades with a lopsided grin. "Yeah, about that whole Captain Hook thing, I apologize. Hey, I can even make it up to you! Anyway, the Chaos Saints are finally ready to throw away the cheap, overused mystery corporation idea and we're now ready to offer our services to the universe."

"What kind of services?" Hades eyed them skeptically.

"You name it," Raven added, her monotone much darker than normal. "Power, resources, information…"

"Your plans have been going successfully so far, but I don't think that lucky streak's going to last," Riku said. "Over the last three months most of your men have been getting cocky. I bet you don't even know Brother Blood has his own Keyblade apprentice, and as of right now has been playing a defensive game merely to throw you off. As soon as you start moving on to other planets, his little band of school children are gonna start schooling your leftovers and snatching all that precious power you hoarded. Not long after that they may even figure out how to destroy you on your home turf, and that's something that even _I_ can't do!"

"WHAT?.!" Hades flared, not believing Riku's words. "That's not POSSIBLE! Tell me we didn't overlook TWO people wielding the Keyblades!"

"Taking down two Keyblade Masters in one fell swoop is impressive enough," Raven answered calmly. "But the dual wielder is not your average Keyblade child. In fact, aside from sealing keyholes, he lacks the potential of the original two you defeated. Slade knew this, and that's why he never led you in search of him."

Hades seethed, but Riku continued, ignoring him, "Seeing how you're acting now, Slade was actually pretty smart in keeping that a secret from you. But enough about that. We the Sin Angel are here to help you with mistakes and solidify your victories." Riku grinned again.

Hades calmed down, and with exaggerated hand motions, restated their offer in his own terms. "Alright, alright, alright, lemme get this straight. You guys are here to help us out and get more knowledge about everyone and everything because you can, right? So what's in it for you?"

"By helping you we help ourselves," Riku answered, but not two seconds after the sentence rolled out of his mouth he groaned in annoyance. "Ah, gods, that was corny. Gotta find another way to say that."

"In other words, it'll be obvious by the time we're done," Raven said.

"Hmm… dealing with shady organization in exchange for near unlimited information and power…" Hades thought it over. "I like the sound of it! It's a deal!" The Lord of the Dead shook hands with Riku, who was grinning triumphantly

Riku stepped back to stand next to Raven, who told Hades, "Expect one of our agents to show up on your doorstep within the next two days. We've still got other business to handle, so we can't stay," Raven forced a very small smile as she concluded, "Nice doing business with you."

"Oh, and one more thing," Riku added carelessly. Hades and the Space Pirates turned to him, waiting to hear what he had to say. "By the time we finished that conversation, the Keyblade Masters had escaped from the darkness." He flashed them a cheeky grin. "Have fun dealing with them. We know we will!"

"WHHAAAT?" Hades roared. Apparently the Space Pirates felt his fury, as they trained their weapons on the two Sin Angel members of the darkness.

"Aww sh—" Riku cursed, but Raven effectively cut him off by making them both disappear into the darkness, the flurry of attacks from the Space Pirates barely missing them.

-----

"That was interesting…" Slade remarked.

"I think we just got 'schooled'," Ridley added, complete with air-quotes for "schooled".

"Clever indeed. Even when they helped us their main goal was to keep us away from their precious Keyblade pawns," Slade pounded a fist into his palm in resolution. "Let them have their short victory. Once we fully figure them out, they won't have it for long."

-------

_Fading memories... _

The red-haired girl somberly trekked through the crystalline remains of Little Planet. The end of time was a lonely place - not even the Space Pirates chasing her knew of anything of where she was. It was just her and her memories here.

_Reconstructed memories..._

She remembered when things were simple, back on the island, where she played with her friends. Simple adventures, their rivalry… back before the Heartless. Even when they came, it was still more of a romantic adventure—she stayed within the confines of his heart, experiencing all his exciting adventures without the pain and hard work.

_And a dream— _

Kairi still remembered that fateful day, that day three months ago when Sora fell into the darkness. She hadn't seen it or even heard it, but she knew when it happened, for a terrible feeling in her heart emerged and wouldn't let go. She nearly fainted from the shock and horror.

_A dream of you... In a world without you..._

So when Riku came back and announced he had found a way to rescue Sora, naturally she was slightly dubious. She _had_ managed to rescue him from the darkness once, so Riku's theory (or at least the theory of the Sin Angel) had been she could do it again.

_Walking this road without you..._

Willing to take the risk of reviving her hero, regardless of price or danger, Kairi agreed, after realizing she would regret it for the rest of her life if she didn't at least try. The terrible forces of darkness in her path were surprisingly weak—either that or she had become ruthlessly strong. However, she didn't count on the aching loneliness she felt in this part of the world… the end of time on Little Planet.

_to remake forgotten promises..._

She couldn't forget what she had promised – that she'd protect Sora as he had protected her. It was only a matter of time before she began to feel Sora's heart again… it was nearby. How he got here didn't matter. Riku was right… he was here, and the only way to awaken him out of his dark sleep was to connect to his heart.

_and meet you at road's end..._

It was here, atop a crystalline mountain, that she finally saw Sora. His features were etched in a peaceful form of sleep. Kairi also noticed two others. Just opposite of Sora was a dark-skinned boy, his features not unlike Sora's. He too was frozen in crystalline darkness.

The third wasn't as buried in the darkness as the other two. The blue hedgehog's features felt more like he was trying to ignore a terrible pain, keeping a strong vigil despite his frozen nature. Kairi stared for a moment, feeling for all three. She had to help them.

She stepped forward, but a piercing laser shot collided with her back, throwing her down painfully.

Kairi couldn't even cry out as she crashed into the ground. However, when she tried to stand, she saw herself facing about five Space Pirates, each aiming their weapons at her. One spoke, "It ends here, princess."

Kairi swallowed, not quite sure how to deal with this. She couldn't fail, not when she had gotten so far…

They aimed their weapons…

… only for them to meet a flurry of fierce lightning bolts. The Space Pirates flinched and dropped their weapons amidst the confusion.

Without warning, one Pirate crashed under the weight of a mighty shield.

"C'mon!" Goofy's famous battle cry shook Kairi out of her shocked daze. She hadn't been powerless either, as she summoned her Divine Rose Keyblade and split it in two smaller Keyblades. The first Space Pirate to taste her fury, a nervously twitching creature near her, was sliced down with a whirling combo.

Goofy and Donald didn't waste time either. Donald jammed his staff into one brigand's eye and smashed another one where the sun don't shine. Goofy did the poor Pirates the mercy of finishing them both.

Soon enough the Space Pirates were no more. Kairi panted, the quick-paced battle having tired her out along with the hours of monotonous walking. The pain from the laser wound was still smarting, so Donald took the time to heal her wounds.

"Got here just in time!" The duck said as his Curaga washed away her wounds. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Kairi stood up. "I still have to rescue… Sora…"

"Who's that guy?" Goofy blinked, seeing the dark-skinned youth trapped in the crystal on the right.

"I don't know…" Kairi took a moment to focus, trying to feel the boy's essence.

She jumped back in a shock after she managed to come in contact with his aura. "It's… it's darkness! And yet… not the same darkness we fear… it's almost like Riku's..." She stepped back. "That's it. I'm going to free both of them."

-----

"How long do we wait?"

"Huh?"

"How long do we wait in the darkness?"

"I don't know… We'll find a way out. That's all I know."

"We can't just sit here!"

"Easy for you to say. Darkness is all I've ever known."

"Well, I'll show you the light! You can come with me!"

"The light… the light hurts my essence… You know this."

"Don't worry… the light is good. I'll protect you if it's truly painful to you."

"I'll trust your word. I'm not afraid of the light… even if darkness is my only power I still remember the light that protect me from myself in my childhood."

"…Yeah."

"…Cool."

"…! Kairi! KAIRI!"

"Who's Kairi?"

"Kairi! Kairi's my… my friend! She rescued me from the darkness before! She can save the both of us!"

"…really?"

"Yeah! Kairi! We're over here!"

A light grew from both of their hearts, eroding the darkness they were trapped in, leaving a path of freedom.

The dark child was hurt, but only a tiny bit. He withstood the light. Perhaps it wasn't as dangerous to him as he thought…

The light led into eternal brightness… freeing them from their prison in darkness…

-----

Sora began to blink his bleary eyes. He was… in some place, where it felt like time stopped. He opened his eyes fully… and saw Kairi.

"Sora!" Kairi gave the awakening boy a heartfelt bear hug. "Oh thank God Sora, you're alive, you're alive!"

"Kairi!" Sora hugged back. "It's so great to see you again…"

"Sora!" Donald and Goofy ran in and joined on the hug as well.

"Donald, Goofy!" Sora greeted each as he returned their hug. "Long time, no see."

"We were worried sick about you!" Donald admonished.

"Yeah, I know… but at least I'm all right…" Sora lowered his head and sniffed his clothes. "I need new clothes. This smells, and it's pretty small…" He suddenly snapped up as if he realized something. "Hey, where's…?"

The dark youth he was concerned about was alone, staring somberly at the blue hedgehog standing in frozen, pained vigil. Sora walked over to him.

"Sonic…" the dark teenager whispered.

"Sonic? Wasn't he the one that—"

"Sonic was a legend on my former world," the boy began. "He saved us both. Without him we wouldn't have stayed sane in the darkness…" He began to reach out. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Nuh uh uhhhh!" A voice rang out. Everyone whipped around to see the red-haired Axel standing behind them. "It's not time to awaken his body."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, leering at Axel.

"His heart's gotta wake up first," Axel explained cryptically. "He hasn't really been fighting at his potential… it's why he's felt like he's failed so many times." He rested a hand on the crystal, close to Sonic's forehead. "It's time to change that."

"What are you doing?.!" Donald asked, nearly furious.

"You'll see him again. I just need to borrow him for a while," Axel gave the group a grin. "After all, he's the last Chaos Saint."

"He's one of you?" Sora asked incredulously.

"You could say that," Axel grinned. "Farewell." Both he and Sonic disappeared within a bright flash.

"Gone… just like that," the dark boy breathed. "I just hope Axel keeps his word."

"We should get going… there's people we need to meet, ahyuck!" Goofy said.

"Yeah, let's go," Kairi began to walk back towards where she came. However, she stopped, paused for a moment, and then looked at the dark child. "Who are you?"

The teenager turned back, his neon-orange eyes regarding Kairi with a calm, amused look. "You can call me Cygnus."

(This concludes episode 1. Next time: Sonic the Hedgehog Dives into the Heart. What results could be the fate of our blue hero's destiny... or at least his sanity.

Seeing as this is one of the largest crossovers I plan to write, from now on I'll be listing names of people not native to the Kingdom Hearts universe.

Slade, Raven: Teen Titans(T.V version)  
Ridley, Space Pirates: Metroid  
Mario, Peach, Mr. Game and Watch: Super Smash Bros. Melee  
Sonic: Sonic series  
Cygnus: My own creation

Enjoy.)


	3. Episode 2: Destati, Sonic the Hedgehog

**Kingdom Hearts: Sin Angel**

**Episode 2: Destati, Sonic the Hedgehog**

_It came to him slowly. _

_Sentience first, then feeling, a sort of gradual awareness of his own existence_…

Gathering strength, he opened his bleary eyes.

Sonic the Hedgehog found himself sitting on top of a window. From his high position, he could see the empty expanses of a city sleeping. He was immediately reminded of Stardust City, but it wasn't quite the same. It was safe to say he didn't remember this place, and yet it felt familiar somehow.

He stood up. This place felt so weird to him. Comprehension beyond him, Sonic simply scanned his surroundings in confusion before someone caught his attention.

"Can't say I'm not surprised," Axel murmured as he stared down the blue hedgehog. Sonic stared back, having never seen this man before. "You just woke up and you're already defying the laws of physics."

"Who are you?" Sonic asked, blinking. "And where are we?"

"Lemme ask you a question first," Axel pressed. "How are you sitting on the SIDE of a window?"

Sonic blinked for a moment before staring down at his feet. Sure enough, he was planted right on a window. No wonder the whole world looked sideways! Unfortunately, the moment he realized this, Newton's (and his temporary annoying tag-along Murphy) laws decided to finally take effect. "DAAAAHHHH!" Sonic screamed as he fell to the ground. However, being Sonic, he immediately started running DOWN the building, letting gravity do the work for him. At the last second, Sonic jumped off the building and landed on the ground.

The red-haired man reappeared on the ground, smirking confidently as Sonic recovered from his fall. Sonic was still looking at him expectantly.

"All right," Axel reluctantly acquiesced, "Since you're going to be seeing my mug for quite a while, I might as well introduce myself. I'm Axel. Commit it to memory."

"All right then," Sonic replied, "What is… this place?"

Axel simply chuckled, grinning.

"What's so funny?"

"You don't recognize the depths of your own heart… how sad," Axel remarked, smirking.

"Huh?" Sonic blinked.

"Think about it. You were last seen frozen in the depths of darkness on Earth. It's sorta doubtful that you'd still be alive… and yet you are. But your body still needs to recover. And it won't do that until you climb out of the depths of your heart." Now that he thought about it, the city's neon lights did all seemed to radiate a distinct feeling… something that felt like… himself.

"This is… my heart? Do all hearts look like this on the inside?" Sonic asked.

"Everyone's heart is unique. You shoulda seen Knuckles' Heart. Looks so much like Chaos Angel…"

"KNUCKLES? Where is he?.!" Sonic demanded, advancing threateningly.

"Oh, he's fine. He's probably dragging our bodies back to Chaos Angel as we speak."

"He… he survived? I thought they all…"

"Not everyone shares the same fate in darkness." Axel cryptically answered, internally laughing at Sonic's confusion. "You know, you need to get over feeling guilty over your friends. It's not like you didn't do everything in your power to stop the Heartless." Axel thought back to his own life before the Sin Angel for a moment, telling Sonic, "A lot of people use all their strength and try hard, but it's still not enough."

Sonic simply growled in frustration. Axel wasn't sure whether it was at himself or his words. But enough of his silly angsting. It was time to get a move on their work.

"Enough chit chat from the peanut gallery. Let's get this over with," Axel began, throwing his hand out dramatically to stop anything Sonic had to say. A spectacular, dark wind flared from below both of them, and Sonic's world shattered into darkness in the span of five terrifying seconds.

When the blue hedgehog found himself aware again, he nearly jumped with shock. "Whoa!" He cried, for he found himself in the middle of a street, further within his heart. City lights continued to sparkle as the abandoned streets showed off their naked state. Brightest of all, however, was a huge building right in front of him. And near the top was a large screen.

Sonic watched in awe as the screen flickered to life…

…and revealed a picture of Amy Rose.

"Amy…" Sonic breathed. The pink hedgehog in the red dress and boots was still exactly as he remembered her. For the most part, she had been nothing but an annoying fangirl to him, but Sonic had reconsidered all his opinion of her after the A.R.K incident. Since then, he had more than tolerated letting her follow him around, even as Eggman had tried to split the world into seven pieces. Unfortunately, that's when the Heartless came…

The familiar sensation of darkness snapped Sonic out of his reverie as it began to invade his soul, pushing at the barriers. A familiar group of natural Heartless emerged all around him, hissing and swinging their heavy, awkward heads about. The group of Neo Shadows had crowded all around the hedgehog, so he tensed, preparing for battle.

"Can you fight?" Axel's question seemed to radiate from everywhere, even though the flame-haired Chaos Saint had appeared behind him, facing the crowd of Neo Shadows gathered around them both.

"What do you think?.!" Sonic shot back, sounding offended.

"Show me how, then," Axel whispered as the first Neo Shadow lunged.

Sonic countered with a powerful Homing Attack, smashing the Neo Shadow away and sending its pieces flying towards its brethren. Two more Neo Shadows scampered from the crowd to take a swipe at Sonic, but their attacks missed. Sonic whipped backwards before smashing both with a kick. He leapt up into the air and brought down a third Heartless crashing into the other two, killing all three.

Axel, on the other hand, was merely slicing down his opposition with his wind and fire wheels. Rather than putting forth full effort like Sonic, Axel seemed to fight just enough to keep himself and Sonic from being overwhelmed.

The Neo Shadows kept lunging, slashing, or emerging and swirling their bodies in deadly pinwheel fashion. But Sonic persisted in his offense, crushing the opposition with a combination of deadly kicks and vicious Homing Attacks. Despite Axel's own war, he observed the blue hedgehog constantly, noting his fighting style and the way he dealt with Heartless. Axel observed that launching a full offense wasn't new to the blue hedgehog, yet he preferred to strike with a string of single, powerful blows rather than a flurry of attacks.

It was then Axel thought of the perfect weapon to complement him. Every Chaos Saint wielded one, from Zexion and his light sabers/energy blades to Clara's… blades. His own thoughts amused him with his joking comments towards Clara earlier that week when he pointed out that an extremely ugly video game character had the exact same blades. He bet she hadn't stopped crying yet.

Shaking said thoughts from his head, Axel watched as Sonic defeated the last Neo Shadow. The hedgehog stood, victorious but tired, supporting himself on his knees as he looked up at Amy's visage on the screen. Axel noticed this as he spoke, "Someone to fight for, eh?"

"Yeah… even if she is gone, I still remember her," Sonic looked back at Axel. "Why, what's it to you?"

"Everything… if I'm going to give you proper training, I have to know your strengths and weaknesses… and what makes you tick." Axel grinned.

"Training?" Sonic asked.

"You want to be strong for your friends as well as yourself, right?" Axel asked.

"Yeah…"

"Perhaps you'd be more comfortable taking this next part with more familiar faces…" Axel walked a bit before pointing to a skyscraper in the distance. "Head there. You might see one of your friends. He or she will ask you a question. Be sure to answer honestly," Axel added with a grin. "Otherwise you might make this harder than it looks."

"Okay…" Sonic took note of the advice, even though he wasn't really sure whether or not Axel was to be trusted. He stepped off and began to race towards his destination before another thought crossed his mind. "Wait… what is this all for? Why are you helping me?"

"Let's just say that it's a question I'M asking YOU," Axel answered cryptically, his grin getting wider. "And since you've got no choice but to join us anyway, I might as well ease you into this as gently as possible."

"Us?" Sonic inquired, but having a feeling that Axel wouldn't answer his question, he turned tail and ran to his new destination.

------

Sonic bolted up the skyscraper, uncertain as to what he would encounter. As he reached the top, he observed storm clouds brewing. "Storming… in my heart? That's a bad sign, isn't it?" He mused.

"Depends on how you look at it!" Sonic whirled around in surprise to see a familiar face.

"R-Rouge!" Sonic gaped in shock. "Y-you're alive?"

"Alive in Heart, Sonic," the white-furred bat answered. She was still clad in her heart dress, the black pants and her deadly heels. "Not even the Heartless can keep ME down. You can thank that Axel guy for that." Rogue flew up and floated before Sonic on her leathery wings. "So I have to ask… what's most important to you?"

Sonic stopped and thought for a moment. What WAS most important to him? If he'd been approached with this question just six months ago, he would have said something along the lines of "To keep moving, no matter what!" But things had changed. When half of his friends tasted the darkness so many months ago, his priorities changed. Now it was all about keeping his friends safe… no matter how many clichéd heroes had figured this out before him. However, being himself was still in high regard. So Sonic answered thus:

"To protect my friends, without losing myself."

Rouge giggled.

"Huh?" Sonic asked. He started to smirk. "Lemme guess. Wrong answer?"

"Nope. It's your answer." Rouge grinned. "Remember it. And go find the next person. He'll be waiting for you at the fountain."

Sonic nodded and backed away, ready to rush off. Unfortunately, rain began to fall, droplets soaking into his fur. Sonic would normally shrug it off, as he wasn't afraid of rain, but something caught his eye. A dark coat fluttered to the ground before him; the hedgehog reached out to catch the garment, staring up at its donor.

"Put it on," Axel instructed, grin still present. "You're one of us, now, don't you remember?"

Sonic put on the Chaos Saint outfit just as the rain began to pick up. He noted Rouge whip out an umbrella and calmly "float" as she always did. "Dude, what about my spikes? Oh wait, never mind," Sonic was worrying about his spines up until he noticed that the jacket had been contoured to fit his body. He put on the hood, but not enough to shadow his face.

He glanced at Axel one last time before sprinting away, but the mysterious Chaos Saint had already vanished. Shrugging, Sonic jumped off and dashed down the building, letting gravity aid his acceleration. Landing at the bottom of the skyscraper, Sonic headed to the other side, searching for the main fountain.

The rain began to die down, but it showed no signs of stopping. Sonic slowed down to a leisurely pace as he saw the water fountain in its beauty. In spite of the rain, the fountain and its white marble looked practically untouched. The blue hedgehog gazed blankly into the sky.

"Never thought you were a daydreamer, Sonic," A voice snapped Sonic out of his reverie. Sonic looked to his left to see a face he thought long gone.

"Shadow the Hedgehog," Sonic stood face to face with his dark double, the black hedgehog leering at him. "Never imagined I'd see you again."

Shadow grinned despite this. "So I guess that's why you let that kid have a copy of my shoes," He said. "If I were still around in your side of the universe, I would've killed him AND you."

"If you're not just inside my heart, where are you?" Sonic asked.

"I've taken to an entirely unfamiliar universe… thanks to the afterlife of many worlds now falling to the grip of some fire-headed god, I haven't quite been able to kick the bucket. My body's regenerating from the very darkness that ended it." Indeed, Sonic remembered back to that fateful day. It was Shadow who'd put forth the most effort to save the innocents. Even as the Heartless overwhelmed him and plunged him into darkness, he kept on fighting. He'd even saved Tails…

"Axel says you have a question for me," Sonic stated.

Shadow looked at Sonic. "So what do _you_ think this is all for?"

Sonic didn't have the slightest clue. Axel had only mentioned he was now part of some outfit, and that his current situation was some form of training… but there had to be something beyond that. Since he'd been there, he'd felt… much less guilty about his failures… and more determined to stop them.

Sonic replied, "This is my awakening."

"No right or wrong answer, Sonic, only yours," Shadow grinned. "The last person you need to meet is at the center of your heart. You'll know where that is." Before he could ask anymore questions, Shadow the Hedgehog turned around and left, disappearing into the night.

"Where?" Sonic muttered to himself, but thought back to where he showed up with the Neo Shadows. The center of his heart… that screen…

It made sense. Heading back from whence he came, Sonic tore through the city, looking for the skyscraper with the screen of his heart…

------

_Curse it! More Neo Shadows!_

Sonic tensed and assumed a fighting stance as the wicked army stared him down.

"You can't hope to defeat all those Neo Shadows by yourself, can you?" Sonic heard Axel's slightly taunting voice. He glanced to his side to see Axel appear in his peripheral vision. He noticed a Neo Shadow prepare to lunge and readied an attack, only to step back in surprise as a huge wall of fire flared between him and the army of darkness. Sonic now looked behind to see Axel looking on confidently. "You're not ready yet. First you need a weapon."

"Weapon! Dude, if you haven't noticed, I AM a weapon," Sonic challenged.

"That's nice, but one's own body can only go so far. You don't have the Chaos Emeralds to let you pump out your Super Saiyan parody at a moment's notice." Axel calmly replied, grin still on his face. Sonic raised his eyebrow at "Super Saiyan parody." Axel stepped forward and extended his hand. From this Sonic could see the faint outline of some sort of vague weapon. "Look deep into your heart, and then imagine yourself pulling out that special weapon." The flame-haired man instructed.

Sonic faltered for a bit as he tried to focus and reach out against the faint outline at the same time. The feel of something solid forming into his hands snapped him out of his focused state; he found himself holding a white shape that seemed to form into what looked like a bladed anchor; the other three edges were prongs much like a chakram. Sonic held one end, looking at the strange, yet dangerous looking device. "What the hell is this?" He muttered, the question more of a statement directed toward himself.

"It's called an axeram, an unorthodox combination of battle axe and chakram," Axel explained, his obvious amusement at Sonic's confusion growing. "It suits your battle style. Just try it alongside your normal abilities."

"Oh," Sonic said, the idea strangely making sense. "So it's a ninja axe?"

"Axeram," Axel corrected, his grin fading.

"Cool! Ninja axe!" Sonic gripped the thing with both hands, holding the bottom prong much like Sora held his Keyblade. The fire barrier fell, and the angry Neo Shadows immediately attacked.

"Oh, God…" Axel groaned, smacking himself in the head. The Neo Shadows fell much more quickly this time, as Sonic deftly wielded his weapon and sliced into the Heartless ranks as if he had fought with the weapon for at least a few months. Sonic rode the adrenaline rush, grinning as he mowed the Heartless down with much less difficulty than he had earlier, beating his way towards the tower.

One he got there, Sonic immediately began to sprint up the building, paying no heed to the Neo Shadows chasing him. As he ran, he sliced down Neo Shadows unfortunate enough to get in his way with his "ninja axe."

He was pouring on the speed. Almost to the top…

He saw her. Amy Rose. Sailing over the building, Sonic saw her, staring at him with a serene smile. No fangirl craze here, just Amy Rose in raw form.

"AMY!" Sonic screamed.

"Land, dummy!" She shouted back good-naturedly. Sonic blinked for a moment before realizing he was still airborne. Forcing Newton's law to recognize him, Sonic nosedived onto the skyscraper rooftop and landed on his feet. He whirled around, realizing that damned Murphy was right around the corner in the form of angry Neo Shadows.

Before he could screech "Amy!" again, he saw the Neo Shadows collide with yet another fire wall. Axel appeared, a small smirk on his face. "Like I'd let those Heartless interrupt a reunion between you and your girlfriend!"

Without even thinking, Sonic retorted, "SHE'S NOT MY—"

"Sonic!" Amy tackled the blue Hedgehog with a vice-grip-like hug, effectively winding him.

"Amy… nice… but… I… need… AIR—!" Sonic wheezed.

"Sorry," Amy sheepishly backed away.

A bit stunned by this uncharacteristic behavior, Sonic could only stare a bit before shaking it off. Amy… apologetic about her (rather obsessive and more than slightly agressive) fangirl tendencies? "Amy… There's so much left unsaid…" Sonic murmured, not exactly sure how to talk to the girl he had so readily ignored until recently… almost until it was too late.

"And we have all the time in the world to say it," She answered, a slight giggle escaping her lips. "I'm part of your Heart now, Sonic."

"Sorta strange coming from me… but I wish we had more time," Sonic said. He looked over to see Axel pretending to check a watch and shrug at them. "I'm unfortunately under new management."

"Awww, Sonic!" Amy chided. "Always rushing off without saying goodbye! What makes you think you can keep running, away from things, people, your own strength?"

"Maybe… maybe I'm just not ready!" Sonic nearly shot back, trying not to startle Amy. "Slowing down means facing something without going at it at my fullest! I can't afford to do that with so many falling from me…" Unfortunately for him he saw two things: Amy's telltale giggle, then Axel giving him the thumbs up. Sonic sweat-dropped in realization. "That was the third question, wasn't it?"

"Ding, ding, ding, give the boy a cookie!" Axel cheered, irony and slight sarcasm lacing his voice. "You told your heart what you need to know. Now it's ready… except for one last thing."

"What's that?" Sonic asked.

"There's still one thing tying you down to the darkness. You have to let go, Sonic." Axel advised, smiling faintly.

"Let go… of what?"

That answer came to him as another form appeared from above… a ray of light, much like a sunbeam, shone in front of Sonic as a familiar form stepped down, descending invisible stairs.

"You've got a distinct hatred of someone who wronged you in the past," Axel observed. Sonic's shocked face recognized Kim Possible as she emerged from the beam of light. "Ironically, you're tied to the darkness by someone you hate in the light."

Sonic nearly roared as he summoned his mighty axeram and stormed towards the accursed girl standing before him

"Sonic! NO!" Amy cried.

Before he even recognized what happened, Kim Possible shifted form right before his eyes. Her mutation left a white, wraith-like creature in her wake, its long hair still somewhat resembling the human Kim's and a familiar Soulless crest replacing her face. The creature struck Sonic down with a fierce backhand. The blue hedgehog could barely recover before a mighty burst of searing light nearly fried him. He slung his weapon and threw it like a boomerang, allowing the blade to slice through the creature.

It retaliated with a wicked burst of light, knocking Sonic off his feet. This former-Kim-Possible monster slashed with its elongated claws, missing Sonic by mere inches. The blue hedgehog flipped backwards before charging forward and smashing into the creature's face. It reeled back before firing off more rays of light, which Sonic deftly dodged.

"Always takes them forever with this part," Axel grumbled as he noticed the rain picking up.

Sonic sliced into the creature with wicked precision and furor, attempting to put an end to it before it could do anymore damage to his heart…

But then it happened.

Sonic found he suddenly couldn't move anymore. His legs, his arms… they suddenly ignored the task set before him, only to recognize in horror that accursed Kim Possible, or what was left of her, only extended a right hand. He was being crushed with psychic powers.

The monster sent Sonic crashing towards the edge of the building, the impact draining much of his strength. The object of his hatred… about to defeat him within his own heart. Would he turn into a Heartless, he found himself wondering rather calmly? A Soulless? Neither option was too appealing.

Sonic never really got to ponder the answer to the question. Before the creature could complete the finishing blow, Amy Rose interrupted its attack, leaping into its path…

…and got the full force of powerful light shoved into her body.

Although it saved Sonic from a painful end, it did not save him from careening off the building, the strange gravity taking a moment to affect his body.

And then, it hit him.

Kim Possible wouldn't do this… not to his friends…!

It struck him.

_That's NOT Kim Possible! That can't be…!_

"AMY!" Sonic screeched as his world began to descend into darkness, once again.

_Don't worry about me, Sonic. I'm always here. Always with you!_ He heard her voice, and despite this desperate situation, it was tinged with the same strength and confidence he come to know her for. _Keep true to your heart… always!_

"AMY!" Sonic bellowed again, as he fell further into the darkness, the city fading further from his point of view. He aimed his weapon. _I've got one last chance to save you…_

Much to his chagrin, he found he couldn't throw it.

All he could do as he fell back, back into the darkness that had claimed him before was allow one last scream to tear itself from his throat… one last call for his friend.

"AMMMMYYYY!"

_Don't forget Sonic… I'm always in your heart._

_Always_.

-

-

(This concludes episode 2.

Sorry for the delay, but my betas were um… predisposed for one reason or another. In any case it's finally ready for the world. The city in Sonic's dream world/Heart is based on something from KH2. Big points and a cookie to whoever guesses it. The other characters aside from Axel and KP hail from Sonic's series as well. KP comes from her self-titled series.

Next time on Sin Angel: Sora and Cygnus see HAL Laboratory for the first time. And heroes and villains alike lay down their plans to finish the opposition. Where HAS everyone gone over the last three months?)


	4. Episode 3: Game Plan

**Kingdom Hearts: Sin Angel**

**Episode 3: Game Plan**

"DAAAH!" Sonic suddenly snapped awake. His body jolted up to a sitting position—

CLANG! Sonic's head collided with some blunt, metal object. Though the hedgehog woozily saw stars, he vaguely registered distinct laughter. He ignored the pain and took a chance, glaring at the source of laughter. To his surprise, Knuckles was hysterically rolling on the floor.

"Knuckles?.!" Sonic shot in surprise.

"You fell for the second oldest trick in the book!" Knuckles wheezed between fits of laughter.

Sonic growled, realizing that Knuckles had set him in front of a metal pole. He was about to pummel Knuckles when he saw Axel recover as well. Figuring he could get revenge later, Sonic watched as Axel sat up and looked his way. "Welcome back to the living," Axel smirked. "Shoulda known you'd figure out the trick and pass at the last second."

"What?.!" Sonic gaped, not understanding. He fell silent, thinking. That dream… "You mean…"

"Yes, Sonic, that dream was real," Axel confirmed, rolling his eyes without losing his grin. "Still a dream, nonetheless."

"So that last part with the monster that posed as KP…"

"Yes… the real test was seeing past your hatred and knowing that's not Kim Possible," he explained. "It didn't matter if you succeeded or failed to bring down that thing, Amy would've finished it off for you anyway. Your girlfriend's pretty sweet, I'd say."

Sonic indignantly interjected, "FOR THE LAST TIME SHE'S NOT MY—wait, is she alright?"

"Your girlfriend's just fine in your Heart." Axel laughed, still smirking triumphantly at Sonic.

Sonic simply gritted his teeth in rage, at loss for a reply. He was very relieved she was alive in some form or fashion, although also terribly disturbed in the fashion in which she now etched her existence. Deciding he didn't want Axel to know anything more about his thoughts, he changed the subject. "So I'm now… one of you. What are you guys, and how'd you con Knuckles into joining you?"

Axel mockingly pretended to think for a moment. "We're the Sin Angel, of course. You knew us as the Chaos Saints," Sonic nearly gasped in recognition (and a slight tinge of horror). He was on the same team as the dreaded Larxene! "A person like Knuckles is an honorary member, or a Sin Agent. They do stuff we can't get away with."

"In other words, the grunt work," Knuckles groused. "At least we still get the cool suits."

"Cool!" Sonic exclaimed, protesting. "I don't do fashion statements!"

"You better not let Clara hear that," Axel admonished Sonic, still grinning.

"I HEARD THAT!"

"Uh, too late," Axel said, now grinning like a devil. But an angry young girl stomped onto the scene, her eyes focusing on Axel menacingly.

"You jerk!" She smacked Axel upside the head roughly, actually getting an annoyed "Ow!" from him. "Now I can't even LOOK at my blades anymore without remembering that ugly Baraka monster!" She then turned and saw Sonic. "Wait, is that Sonic the Hedgehog?" She pointed incredulously.

"Yes, that's Sonic," Knuckles grumbled, rolling his eyes and propping his head on a hand. "Not like I'm important in any way whatsoever."

Clara let out a squeal of excitement before crushing Sonic in a bear hug. Sonic quickly dubbed this crazy girl as 'even Amy's calmer than her'. "OHMYGODIT'SREALLYHIM IT'SREALLYREALLYHIM!"

"What… the hell?.!" Sonic wheezed, having trouble breathing.

"Oh, Sonic! You're so cool! You saved the world twice and countless islands and cities so many times! You wouldn't believe how Taz and Charlotte and all them idolized you!" Clara kept blabbing on, though she eased up on her hug enough to give Sonic sufficient air to survive.

"You know, the big boss's sorta expecting him, so do him a favor and let him live," Axel told her.

"I'm not listening to you, jerk!" Clara directed an accusatory glare at the red-haired man, but she let go of Sonic anyway. Axel simply shook his head.

"This outfit's pretty hopeless," Axel commented. He turned to Sonic. "The big boss is interested in seeing you. She'll give a better explanation of the rules, who we are, and other stuff better than I can." Sonic got up.

"Where is she?" the blue hedgehog asked.

"Downstairs… in the mansion that connects this place to Twilight Town," Axel answered. "You can't miss it."

"Twilight Town?" Sonic whispered, giving a last nod to Axel and the others before he sprinted out of the small, dungeon-like room. "Huh…"

------

"Hi, Brother Blood! Long time, no see!" Brother Blood twitched at the sound of that dark boy's mother. He was so annoyed that he didn't notice the added pep.

Brother Blood yelled, "YOU HAVE A LOT OF GALL SHOWING YOUR FACE HERE, WOMAN--" But he suddenly stopped as he noticed he wasn't staring at a demi-heartless anymore.

Instead, he found himself face-to-face with a dark-skinned woman with leering, yellow eyes and flowing hair. She was wearing a striped blue shirt and pants, as well as fingerless gloves and what looked like a blue bandana with the Soulless crest emblazoned on it. He masked his surprise and quickly recovered, showing no outward signs of his shock. "I see you're human again. Care to explain how this happened?"

"I guess my husband's dead… either that or his heartless state's been reversed, too," she shrugged. "What matters is that I'm ME again. It'd be nice to hang out with my kids again," She suddenly changed expressions. "If you know, they WEREN'T ON YOUR HIT LIST!"

"Well excuse me for noticing that your children might go the way of your estranged 'hubby'," Brother Blood countered, complete with air quotes. "If perhaps you're still concerned for them, I can—"

"I went through HELL to keep them alive," She snarled. "And according to you, they could still be saved despite their own darkness!" She sighed into defeat. "And somehow I failed one of them…"

"Umm… excuse me?" They turned around to see a slightly nervous Blondie enter the room. Following his tail was an equally blond boy wearing a black turtleneck and cargo pants, Ron Stoppable. Blondie continued. "I'd hate to interrupt this, but… Sora's back. He's escaped the darkness, as well as the dark boy."

Brother Blood raised his eyebrow at the news. "This is interesting… to say the least. This means we'll have to push our plans forward now."

The woman began chuckling.

"Can I ask what's so funny?" Brother Blood leered at the dark-skinned lady.

"So he's alive. All that, and he's still alive…" She stopped chuckling and looked up at Brother Blood. "Listen, Blood. I've known you've yet to meet the other Keyblade children, but the two of them stronger than even Blondie over here," she jerked her thumb over to the blond young man standing beside her, who responded with an indignant huff. "As much as he doesn't want to admit it. But think about it. The three Keyblade Masters at your whim. The universe could be yours, and the Heartless wouldn't stand a chance." Her smirk returned at the last comment.

Brother Blood thought this over for a moment. On the one hand the offer was tempting. THREE Keyblade Masters doing his dirty work, not to mention the other powerhouses already under his tutelage. On the other hand, this attempt at brainwashing them would waste considerate resources… Suddenly an idea popped into his head. Folding his fingers together, he leered at the woman.

"I think I'll consider the idea. Here's the deal. YOU pull this off, and I'm only letting you take your demi-Heartless minions and if they're free, Blondie and Stoppable," he stood up. "I have other plans for the rest of my children." He walked past the other three and left.

"Hmph," The woman sighed before turning around to Blondie and Ron. "So, are you going to play my game, or are you two too busy?"

"Eh, what?" Ron Stoppable blinked, weary of missing some hidden meaning.

"No ma'am. Brother Blood's only going to launch some speech about our plans before he goes," Blondie answered. "We can help you if you wish."

"I knew you'd see things my way," Cygnus's mother smiled.

------

"Yeah, that whole, stalling for time so Kairi saves Sora thing… that SUCKED, okay! That SUCKED!" Hades flared in anger, muttering the whole way through his lair. Feeling so furious at his failure to see through Riku's trick (as well as find himself completely unwilling to face Slade in his current state.), he decided to walk the long way back into his quarters.

Mumbling and grumbling, Hades almost failed to notice the reticent man perched just opposite of him near the River of Styx. Once he did catch sight of the man, however, he turned towards him and spoke, "Can I help you?"

The man looked up, neon orange eyes glaring at Hades. "You don't recognize me?" The question was more like a statement. "The first hint was that your minions aren't swarming me right now." He stood up. The man was wearing a black jacket and blue jeans; he wore no shirt underneath. He carried a large, meat-cleaver like sword on his back. His jacket was fastened together with a Heartless crest not unlike Ansem. An unusual hole hollowed out his abdomen, allowing Hades to see through his body. His most distinctive trait, however, was a mess of dreadlocks that looked awfully familiar…

"Darkside?" Hades raised an eyebrow. "You're not dead? Wondering why I didn't see you take a swim in the River of Styx…" He muttered, almost to himself.

"That name is dead to me…" The former Darkside rose and jumped up into the ceiling before pushing off and landing next to Hades. "The name's Redma, like it used to be. I guess that damnable hedgehog did me a favor after all."

"The hedgehog?" Hades scratched his head. "Oh… that speedy blue clown Black Ghost complained about. He's becoming a bigger threat than we envisioned." Feeling considerably calmer, Hades decided to cut to the chase and get to Slade immediately. With Black Ghost and Giovanni gone, most likely basking in the darkness of their home world, Slade and Ridley got first dibs on their armies and quickly took over the main plans of their gang of villains.

Not that Hades really cared, of course. Provided that Slade didn't get too comfy in his home turf or took to bossing him around, he was more than nonchalant about letting Slade lay down the game plan. It was a guaranteed way to not get screwed over by the Heartless, as he learned from being under Maleficent's tutelage.

Hades swung open the door to see Slade and Ridley still gathered around the crystal ball. However, they weren't really paying attention to it, and quickly turned to Hades as he entered with the orange-eyed Redma.

Hades looked around. "We're a bit short on staff. Where's Bowser?"

"He's taking inventory of our troops; we'll inform him of our plan later." Slade stepped towards the crystal ball, but quickly glanced and noticed Redma. "Do I know you?"

"Should, but won't blame you if you don't," Redma shrugged. "Let's just say a certain blue hedgehog reversed my shell."

Slade stared for a moment, then went back to what he was originally doing. As if focusing spiritual energy, Slade set his hand upon the crystal ball. Three seconds later, a large hologram-like map popped up from the device. All four stared at what appeared to be a map of the universe as Slade began.

"We currently reside in Hades' Underworld, which is now conveniently nestled under Little Planet. Our goal is to expand our empire of darkness to the entire universe. But of course, there are those who oppose our plans." Slade began to rub his chin. "If the Keyblade children have returned as I thought they have, they'll be significantly stronger. Before we can start moving, we'll need to know their strengths and weaknesses. Attacking them blindly will result in loss of resources as well as them being much wearier of our attacks."

"So how's that gonna work?" Hades asked with a raised eyebrow. "The whole 'assess their strengths' thing?"

"You know, if you clowns stopped attacking the Smashers and let them have their tournament, that just might be enough to see what they're capable of," Redma leered at the other three.

Hades, Ridley, and Slade glared at the man with the neon-orange eyes. Ridley snarled, "Watch your mouth, hot shot! I don't see you plunging any worlds into darkness!"

"As foolish as that remark is, the man has a point," Slade added. "Perhaps observing or even participating in the Smash Tournaments could be the key to collecting the strengths and weaknesses of not only the Keyblade Masters, but perhaps every potential threat to our plans. Terra!" Slade bellowed.

The blonde girl emerged from the ground, swathed in bikini-styled armor and a lot of bandages from the neck down, as usual. "You rang?" She asked calmly.

"It's been a long time since you've seen any action, hasn't it?" Slade asked her. "You could use a bit more training in the ways of darkness; you've been rather reckless in the past months."

"Yes, sir," Terra responded mutely. She then twisted her face into a dark smile. "I've been clamoring to grind the Titans' bones to dust. I also want to see Sora again."

"You'll get your chance yet, my dear," Slade responded, rising up and walking towards her. "But for now, just follow me. We have our first world to visit."

He strode past her and she immediately followed by her side. The other three villains just stared blankly. Redma broke the silence. "That dude is scary."

"Tell me about it," Hades muttered, more jealous than scared, if at all the latter.

"…So." Ridley began in an awkward attempt to break the silence. "Who wants beefcake?"

-----

"WELCOME, MY CHILDREN, to the ultimate stand against the darkness!" Brother Blood boomed to his audience of varied teenagers. "Starting tomorrow we will be moving towards other worlds in our battle against the terrible darkness that destroyed yours!" Even if Brother Blood weren't naturally compelling, his hypnotic red eyes would've allowed no dissent. With the exception of the orange-haired Marluxia and the stalwart Blondie, everyone's eyes in the room glowed red with the headmaster of the H.A.Y.E.P Academy.

"Each of you will undertake a new mission to further the glory of the Soulless and put an end to the darkness that ravages the universes!" Brother Blood's face contorted to a grin. He dropped his voice to a slightly audible whisper. "That is, IF you're up to the challenge."

The floating platform he stood on lowered slighty until he was eye to eye with his students. "Are you ready to put an end to darkness?.!"

"YES!" His students chorused.

"Are you ready to show that we don't need a Keyblade 'Master' to save this universe?.!"

"YES!"

"Are you ready to further the glory of Brother Blood?"

"YES!"

Brother Blood's platform hovered closer to the group of students. "Now tell me what you're going to do?"

"PUT AN END TO DARKNESS!"

"Do you NEED a Keyblade Master?"

"NO!"

"We're going to show that spiky haired brat who's the real king of the light!" Brother Blood's platform hovered away until he was in view of the entire class. He threw up his hands in the air for a thunderous round of applause. Chants of "Brother Blood!" pratically shook the walls of the HAYEP Academy as Brother Blood basked in the glory (and his increasing power).

Blondie observed Brother Blood and his cadre of mind-controlled students. This man was becoming dangerous… he hoped Mr. Marluxia had things under control.

-----

"Ansem?" Sonic blinked as he recognized the silver-haired figure before him.

Sitting quietly inside the mansion nearby Twilight Town, Ansem looked up from his book to see the quizzical look on Sonic's face. "Hello, Sonic. Long time, no see."

"What are you doing here?" Sonic asked, curious as to why Ansem would be freely wondering about Sin Angel territory. Was he a Sin Agent too…?

"A good friend of mine was kind enough to show me the archives of the previous data I've gathered on the Heartless and the Soulless," Ansem answered, standing up to address the blue hedgehog. "You see, in the three months that you and the Keyblade children have been trapped in the darkness, I have done more research on the creatures of the dark and the light… but unfortunately, I've lost my memories!"

"Say WHAT?.!" Sonic gasped in shock.

"I'm not certain, but one of my colleagues believes my memories have been stolen by a young girl with the power over memories…" Ansem scratched his chin. "However, the recent notes I have taken are still around, scattered across worlds. I'd appreciate it if you've found them for me. You can inform your Keyblade wielding friends if you wish."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sonic nodded. "Unfortunately, I can't hang around for long, the big boss wants to see me. I'll talk to you later." Sonic waved before dashing off further into Twilight Town's mansion.

"So you told him, huh?" Ansem turned to see Vexen perusing a selection of books. "He's still pretty likely to fork over your documentations to Sora rather than us. But I can't blame him." Vexen turned to Ansem. "Unlike half of us, Sonic still has a heart. Another reason why I am a fool to doubt Miss Oni."

"It will speed the search," Ansem calmly replied. "I'm not certain if Sonic will stay loyal to your group. If there's a hidden threat like you say there is, you could always test him."

"I'm going with him to the first world," Vexen responded. "And my suspicions are not with the blue hedgehog. He's our most recent and obvious member, I'd see through anything he'd throw at us. But of course, as you suggest, I will test him." Vexen smiled at this thought. "An experiment can always put my doubts to rest. Besides this first world we'll be traveling to has a fascinating array of magic and powerful people." Vexen turned away, but looked at the former king once more. "And don't worry, I'll keep an eye out for your grandson. I'd like to see how much he's grown, too."

-----

"Sora!"

"Hercules!" The powerful Greek demi-god and the original Keyblade master slapped hands into a powerful handshake just in the lobby of HAL Laboratory. "Being a hero is harder work than I thought!"

"I can imagine," Hercules smiled as he pulled out of the handshake. "Glad to have you back. Donald, Goofy, Kairi, you too." He saw the dark-skinned kid. "Sorry, but I haven't seen you before. What's your name?"

"My name is Cygnus… glad to meet you," Cygnus modestly shook hands with Hercules.

"Have things been okay in the three months I've been gone?" Sora asked. "I know it hasn't been smooth sailing from here…"

"Things haven't been a walk in the park… the Heartless have taken more worlds… quite a few people here are the only survivors of their world." Hercules answered. "But we're all right! HAL Laboratory is the new home for the Olympic games, and this time we've invited some of the strongest warriors in the universe!"

"Really?" Sora asked. "I can't wait to have a rematch with you!"

"Hehe, I wanna fight him, too," Cygnus grinned, facing Sora. "If it took you three times before you toppled him like you told me, he'll be a worthy opponent."

"I'm afraid they won't be registering for a while," Hercules frowned. "We're still working out the kinks on the arena floor. Plus Mario and Phil and backed up in paperwork…"

"No problem! We'll save a few worlds, bring back a few warriors and maybe by that time everything will be ready!" Sora grinned eagerly and pumped his fist…

…only for his sleeve to rip.

"But first I need new clothes," Sora smiled sheepishly.

"Maybe I can find something for you, Sora," Kairi offered. "I believe there's a shop nearby here."

Cygnus thought for a moment. "Yeah… I could use new threads myself."

"Ummm Sora?" Donald ventured. "We have another problem."

"Yeah, we don't have enough room on our Gummi ship, not to mention it's busted," Goofy added.

"I've got just the person to talk to," Hercules grinned. "He's a leader of a mercenary team from Coneria. Once you're done with whatever business you have here, look for a Fox McCloud. He should be around here somewhere." Hercules looked around furtively and gasped in shock as he recognized a throng of love-struck fangirls. "Oh crud, I'll talk later, Sora!" Hercules ran for his life. Sora and the others could only stare blankly until the hero ran out of eyesight.

It was a long period of silence before Cygnus randomly asked, "Where the hell did they come from?"

----

"Are you Fox McCloud?" Sora ventured.

The person in question turned back towards Sora. This anthropomorphic fox stood roughly equal in size to Sora, wearing a white shirt, blue pants and what looked like white combat boots. "Fox McCloud of Team Star Fox reporting! How can I help you?"

"Ummm… I need someone who can escort me to other planets, so you know… I can save them." Sora explained as best as he could.

Fox scrutinized Sora for a bit before nodding his head in recognition. "Ah, you must be Sora, mate! A silver-haired guy by the name of Riku told me about you!"

"Riku! Riku was here?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I talked with him just yesterday. He told me you might need an escort."

"Riku…" Sora thought for a moment. He then shook out of it and returned to Fox. "So that means you'll help me?"

"Of course I'll help you! … For a price," Fox grinned.

Sora promptly crashed into the ground.

-----

_Don't worry, Sora. We'll work something out. Meet me back here in two hours and we'll get moving towards our first destination._

Sora idly sat within the front lobby of HAL Laboratory. He had changed his outfit from his old red and white outfit to a nearly all-black ensemble. He wasn't quite sure why the color had attracted to him… but it felt like him now. The only other prominent color was yellow, and that was only on his shoes and the assorted straps that decorated his jumpsuit. He wondered when the others would get back…

"OI!" Sora's ears perked up at the sound of Cygnus's tough voice. "It's like I got stuck in a negative and out popped you." Sora glanced at the dark-skinned kid. Indeed, Cygnus was dressed in a similar fashion to Sora… but his colors were all white, giving him a stark contrast with his dark skin. "Makes poetic sense, actually, since we represent opposite powers."

"Makes sense," Sora agreed as he thought about it. He was the light, Cygnus was the darkness… and yet here they were in opposite colors. Another thought suddenly crossed his mind. "Cygnus… do you remember that lady from the Chaos Saints?"

"What lady?" Cygnus asked. He had seen more than one female that belonged to the mysterious group.

"The one in red… the one that made you…"

"Ah, HER," Cygnus snarled. "What about her?"

"I thought of something… the brief moment I saw her…" Sora's mind quickly flickered back to her cryptic warning before Sora ventured into darkness. "…she's not an advocate of darkness OR light, is she?"

Cygnus's features softened somewhat. "Why's that important?"

"From all the Chaos Saints we met… and why they took Sonic… It seems like they begrudge both darkness and light." Sora thought. "But why…"

Cygnus gasped. "Sonic did, too," He thought back to Sonic's rant against Kim Possible when they had visited the Titan's Tower. "I have a feeling that's why they wanted him, as well."

"So I guess we've got a mystery on our hands, ahyuck!" Goofy interjected as he walked in with Donald. "Nice clothes, you two!"

"Thanks, Goofy," Sora smiled.

"We're gonna find out who these 'Chaos Saints' are (even if I don't remember seeing them) and get to the bottom of all this!" Donald exclaimed. "You can bet on it!"

"We'll find Sonic, too," Cygnus added. "Maybe the first world we travel to might hold some ideas. But most of all…" Cygnus looked wistfully at the sky. His voice dropped to a whisper. "I want to find my family… I want to fix those rifts I caused… I even want to find Charlotte. But I'm afraid…"

"Afraid? Of what?" Sora asked.

"I may not be myself… you saw that woman's influence on me… Sora, promise me you'll keep me in check, whatever I do…"

Sora blinked in shock. A humble request from that kid… he surely had changed in the three months they had known each other. "O-okay, I promise! Just stick with us, and we solemnly swear we won't you do anything stupid!"

Cygnus only laughed. "That's fine with me."

"Yeah, we'll find all of our friends!" Sora thought back to the people he had befriended while visiting Cygnus's planet. They were all scattered, too, but if he could draw them to Little Planet…

"Sora!" Sora barely turned around before he found himself embraced in Kairi's tight hug. "You're going to leave again, aren't you?"

"Don't worry about me Kairi, I won't get stuck in the darkness again, I promise!" Sora returned the hug. "Someone's got to fight the darkness."

"I know Sora, but I'm still worried over you. The Heartless have gotten meaner this time, they even plunged more princesses of Heart into darkness… They won't hesitate to use that against you." Kairi rested her head against Sora's. "But I'm still here. You keep fighting, Sora. I'll be waiting for you."

"How about you two get a room?" Sora and Kairi glared at Cygnus, who was looking at them with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Shut up," They both chorused in monotone with a deadly coldness.

"'Ey, mates! When you're finished coddlin' the ship's ready!" Fox had returned, a triumphant smile on his face. "We'll be departing soon, so get ready!"

"All right!" Donald cheered.

"Let's get going, ahyuck!" Goofy added.

"I guess this is goodbye for now, Sora," Kairi whispered.

"Don't worry, I'll keep in touch," Sora kissed her lightly on the cheeks. "Take care, okay?"

"I will," Kairi whispered back. "Bye, Sora."

"What're you clowns suckin' face for?" Cygnus dragged Sora away from Kairi as he skated behind Donald and Goofy, who were following Fox. "We've got work to do! LET'S BLAST AWAY!"

-----

Sonic finally slid to a stop inside a modest room. A long, wooden table and several chairs were the only furniture in the room. Looking past that, he could see a tall, wraith-like woman sitting calmly opposite of where he stood. "Umm… you're the big boss?"

"Sonic the Hedgehog. The last of my 13 children. Come, sit." Oni's motherly voice commanded as the blue hedgehog nervously took a seat. "You come with many questions. Hopefully I can answer as many as you ask."

"Okay…" Sonic thought for a moment, then nearly jumped out of his seat with his first question: "What's the Sin Angel?"

She chuckled calmly. "Our purpose… is to be the top knowledge base in the universe. You may not be used to this, but with our level of power, the forces of light and darkness are merely our playthings. Our true power lies within the power of Chaos, which you wield quite deftly."

Sonic sweat-dropped. "I joined a cult, didn't I?"

Oni chuckled heartily at this. "Cult is too strong a word to describe us. I prefer to say… what did Riku say again… entrepreneurs." Sonic raised his eyebrow at this notion, but the woman merely laughed. "But don't worry, Sonic my child. We will not stop you goal of saving the universe… and your friends."

Sonic gasped. However, he was no fool. She knew far more than she was telling, and perhaps far more than he even wanted to know, but there was one thing still bugging him. "Why me? Why are you helping me?"

"Dear Sonic, you'll be surprised at what you can learn by helping people… even archvillains," Oni's grin softened. "All sorts of things can be gained through helping people… from restoring their powers to helping them find lost loved ones… we have the knowledge and the power to achieve anything, and eventually, we will achieve EVERYTHING."

Sonic blinked in near shock. He definitely felt like he was in the big leagues now… but didn't that old adage absolute power corrupts absolutely apply here? "So we're aiming to do… well anything and everything. Is that right?"

"You could say that."

"So in short we're a group of overpowered mercenaries disguised as a cult?"

Oni only laughed. "You have a… unique way of simplifying matters, Sonic."

"Hey, what can I say? I like to cut to the chase." Sonic shrugged, but looked up at Oni again. "But with all this… so-called power at our fingertips, wouldn't we be like evil megalomaniacs by now?"

"Ah, we would if it we were ordinary men and women… Even some of my children aren't entirely immune to it." Oni appeared to be thoughtful. "On the other hand, that's why you're a balancing factor for our group… you can keep my other children in check." She pointed a finger and a hologram of a strange world appeared. Sonic muttered something about flashy CG effects as the woman continued, "See here, Sonic. This is your first destination. This world contains a vast amount of information useful to us, as the mages there have perfected many spells both useful to us and your friends. If my sources are correct, Sora and Cygnus should be heading over in that direction as well. Vexen will be accompanying you."

"Who's that?"

"An elder child with long hair… you saw him when you passed by Ansem."

Sonic tensed. _She could read stuff from my mind!_

"I can hazard a guess at what you're thinking, and although I can read your mind, rest assured it's not constant."

Sonic calmed down before he stood up. "So what should I do?"

"Do what you always do. Show the villains who's boss," She winked. Sonic was about to dash off, but at the last minute, Oni dropped her voice low and said, "A word of warning. Don't think like the Keyblade children. You have your own path now."

Sonic looked at her, processing the advice in his mind before giving a smile and a thumbs up. He ran off back towards the outside of the mansion.

Oni smiled to herself as she heard Sonic shout "Vexen! Let's go!" before zooming out of earshot. She could practically hear Vexen grumbling despite the fact she only felt his aura for a response.

"It's going smoothly. My children are ready to play."

(AlllRIGHTY THEN! Sorry for the wait... I don't have a beta anymore, If anyone's interested in helping me make my story not suck, email me at Don't miss it!

Next time!

Sora and Cygnus's first world takes them to the prestigious Mahora Academy, where all is not what it seems like. A ten year old teacher educating 31 girls in English is only the forefront for things magical (and perverted, but MOVING ON!). Unfortunately, Cygnus picks the wrong girl to hit on when a mysterious swordswoman moves in to stop him.

If you haven't heard of Mahou Sensei Negima , then don't worry... I aim to introduce you to this next fandom/world.

New character list!

Redma, Cygnus's mom, Oni, Clara: my creations  
Ron Stoppable: _Kim Possible_  
Fox McCloud: _Star Fox_ series  
Terra: _Teen Titans_

That's all folks!)


	5. Episode 4: Brave New World Redux

**Kingdom Hearts: Sin Angel**

**Episode 4: Brave New World (Redux)**

(New part of Disclaimer: I don't own Negima, Ken Akamatsu does. Simple as that.)

"Earth again… I didn't think it was possible," Cygnus mused almost quietly as he and Sora stepped off of the bullet train.

"I'm trying to figure it out myself," Sora added as he stood alongside his dark-skinned opposite. In his view he saw what reminded him of the previous Earth's Japan, except far more traditional in design. "It's like stepping into a mirror. It doesn't feel the same as your earth did."

"Gawrsh, maybe it's an alternate universe!" Goofy offered his suggestion.

"You make that sound so simple…" Cygnus muttered. "But until we figure this out, I guess your excuse will have to do—" Cygnus twitched just moments before a crowd of girls swarmed by him and ran over the boy like road kill. Sora, Donald, and Goofy jumped out of the way and glanced back in horror as the girls virtually ignored the poor boy as they trampled him and took a look at the expansive traditional city before them.

"Kyoto!" One shouted happily.

"This is the famous Kiyomizu Stage, isn't it?" One girl with two long braids of blue hair pointed out. "They use this place for dancing and enacting play in honor of the Bhudda goddess Kannon-sama. The phrase 'I'm going to jump off the Kiyomizu stage' originated here. As well there were two-hundred and thirty five reported cases of people actually jumping off… the survival rate however, was eighty-five percent… surprising isn't it?"

"Whoa, she's a freak!" Another girl exclaimed, amazed at the small girl's knowledge.

"Yep, Yue really loves those Buddha statues from the shrine…" another girl explained.

The girls continued chatting animatedly and marveling over the city of Kyoto. Sora walked over and peeled Cygnus off of the ground. "You okay?"

"Do I _look_ okay?" Cygnus grit his teeth in response before shaking himself back to normal. "Meh, I've suffered worse. Hnn?" He looked over to see two girls staring off into the sunset. Sora looked over as well, wondering what caught the dark boy's attention.

There they saw two girls, both less talkative and rowdy than the others. Like all the girls before them, they were dressed in a school uniform that consisted of a white shirt under a red vest, a tie, and a pleated skirt. The first girl, one with long, dark hair, mused happily, "This brings back memories, doesn't it, Secchan? See, there's the river where we used to play together!"

This other girl, one with a ponytail tipped to her left side, merely looked at the first girl before giving a slight bow… and leaving. The first girl could only sigh in slight disappointment.

This didn't go over too well with Cygnus, who immediately ran over to the girl's side. He took a small jeer at the girl leaving before he addressed the first girl before him. "Tch. I don't know what's going on… but are you all right?"

"Ah!" The girl turned to see Cygnus. "I'm okay." She looked over Cygnus. "I haven't seen you around before. Are you new here?"

Cygnus exchanged looks with Sora before facing her. "As a matter of fact, umm… we are! My name is Cygnus, and this is my friend Sora," As Cygnus swept a respectful bow, he noticed that Donald and Goofy had suddenly vanished. He couldn't do anything but ignore that for now.

The girl giggled a bit. "My name is Konoka Konoe, I'm pleased to meet you!" She shook Cygnus's hand with both of hers, making him blush slightly. "Our class is touring here, so if you stick close by, you won't get lost." She heard someone call her name. "Ah, I gotta go. Maybe we'll see each other again?"

"S' fine with me," Cygnus grinned. "I'll see ya around."

The girl left, leaving the dark kid to stare wistfully after her. "Dude, I think she likes me."

"Don't let it get to your head," Donald reappeared, smacking the boy lightly. "That sort of thing is called 'meddling', and it's not what we're supposed to do on planets!"

"Yeah, 'muddling' is bad." Goofy added.

"'Meddling!'"

"Tch. You're no fun." Cygnus objected.

"Come on, guys, let's keep moving," Sora decided to can their argument and follow Konoka's advice.

Looking at the large group, perhaps the most unique of them all was not a girl at all but a scrawny, red-haired boy who looked no older than ten. He wore a casual suit and tiny bifocals, giving him a far more mature air. When the girls had fled downstairs to see more sights, he followed them slowly. A large wooden staff was strapped to his back. Intrigued by this, Sora, Cygnus, Donald, and Goofy followed him from a distance down the stairs as he took in the surroundings as well.

"Ah… Kyoto's nice, isn't it?" The boy marveled, appearing to talk to no one.

Not noticed by Sora until it began to look around, a small white creature resembling a ferret began to look around. "Ah, big bro, that's Kyoto for you!" The creature began to look around more cautiously before pulling out a manila envelope. Its voice dropped to a whisper. "I got this from the Principal. He said to keep this stuff handy while you look for your father's holiday house."

"Ummm…" The child looked through to see a small packet of papers and a smaller envelope. "This is the home turf of the Kansai Magic Association…"

"EEE! Aren't they the enemy?" The ermine nearly exclaimed.

Back where they stood, Sora deliberated. "This looks like we wandered right into a potential conflict."

"Aww, don't tell me we're gonna nose in someone else's business a SECOND time in three minutes!" Donald grumped. "We're already meddling as it is!" He took a glare at Cygnus.

"Hey, the girl might like me, okay?" Cygnus retorted.

"Says you."

"You're just jealous."

"Shut up, both of you, before we get—" Sora started to hiss, but stopped as the boy and his pet looked in their direction. Sora finished in deadpan, "…found out."

It was a deadlock for a good ten seconds before both parties screamed in panic. "We've been discovered!" The boy cried out.

"We're doomed!" Donald cried out.

Sora, always one to be the mediator, immediately stepped forward to pacify everyone. "Hey, everyone calm down!" With everyone's attention on him, Sora moved towards the kid. "Ummm… I'm not sure what's going on here but… don't worry, we won't tell anyone!"

"Too late for that," Donald muttered rolling his eyes.

The boy looked at Sora with questioning eyes. "Who are you?"

"I'm Sora, and these are my friends, Donald, Goofy, and Cygnus!" Sora answered. "Ummm… we're sorta lost, so we were hoping we could tag along with your group."

The kid seemed to like the idea. "Sure, Sora!" He shook hands with the spiky-haired kid. "My name's Negi Springfield! And this is my pet Kamo-kun!" The small ermine waved. "My class and I are taking a field trip here…"

"Negi-kun! Over here!" A girl shouted from up the stairs.

"Ah, must be going!"Negi exclaimed, following the girl, leaving our heroes to think once more.

"He and his… class?" Sora puzzled.

"Hmph. I thought I heard someone refer to a 'Negi-sensei'… but how could a shrimp like him be a teacher?" Cygnus added.

"I'd say things got a lot more interesting, let's follow him!" Sora exclaimed, and the four of them bolted up the stairs.

----

"So if you make it from this rock to the other one without opening your eyes, you'll find success in love?" Negi asked one of the numerous girls.

"Yes, yes!" She answered.

Sora and his entourage arrived at the top of the hill to see two stones arranged roughly twenty meters away from each other. Both stones had a charm slip and some decorations, obviously meant for some special occasion. The four otherworldly heroes simply watched in interest.

One tall, blonde girl stepped up. "As class president, I'll be trying this test!"

"No fair! I'm going, too!" A second girl with strawberry-blond hair piped up.

"I will, too!" A third girl, a shy creature with purple hair and bangs covering her face, shakily stepped up as well.

The girl known as Yue stepped up, putting her hand in the air as the three challengers prepared themselves. "Ready… go."

With their eyes closed, the three girls tried to find their way to the opposite rock. Unfortunately the purple-haired girl immediately veered off into a corner and crashed into a wall. "So much for that one," Cygnus muttered under his breath.

The blond girl came to a stop. **"**I feel bad for Miyazaki-san and Makie-san, but for one such as I, who has been trained in martial arts, this isn't even a challenge!**"** Focusing herself, she chanted "Yukihiro Ayaka style Mind's Eye of Love technique!" With that, even though her eyes were closed, the girl known as Ayaka could see the other rock clearly. "Target acquired! I'm going for it!" She burst out into a full sprint towards the other end, laughing maniacally the whole way…

…up until she stepped on something. Coming to a reluctant stop, she opened her eyes.

There were frogs. Lots of them.

"AIYAH! FROGS!" She squealed, rendering the class into a psychotic frenzy.

"Frogs?.!" Sora exclaimed. "And so many…"

"She doesn't seem to care," Cygnus pointed to the purple-haired girl, who had successfully made it to the rock without opening her eyes. "Maybe I was wrong about her…"

"Is this the work of the Kansai Magic Association?" Negi whispered, almost to himself.

"Most likely, but be strong, big bro! They could be just trying to intimidate us!" Kamo whispered.

He pulled out the envelope that he had been holding earlier. "Thank goodness this is still safe."

An unknown force snatched the paper right out of his hands. That wasn't good. Negi looked to his left to see a winged creature stick out its tongue at him before fleeing into the forest. "After him!" Kamo commanded, and Negi chased after it immediately.

Sora and Cygnus weren't about to be left out. Seeing the creature they immediately recognized it as a familiar enemy: an Air Soldier. "Heartless!" He exclaimed. They immediately began to chase after it as well, catching up to Negi in the process.

Surprised by their sudden acquaintance, Negi asked, "You guys?"

"You've mentioned a Kansai Magic Association several times now," Sora explained. "If they're the guys controlling that Heartless, your class could be in serious trouble!"

"That's what that creature is?.!" Kamo exclaimed.

"Yes!" Cygnus affirmed. He snarled as he put on an extra burst of speed, trying to catch the Heartless before it could get away.

The Heartless managed to make it to a small clearing, where a shadow of a girl stood in wait. Cygnus was about to charge when the girl showed herself in clear view, holding a sheathed sword…

Her sword sliced in a wide arc in the air.

The Heartless went down in one strike.

Cygnus skidded to a stop to see the girl holding the envelope. Negi and Sora came behind. "Wait— huh?"

The girl walked over to the three. Cygnus recognized her as the girl who gave Konoka the cold shoulder. She brushed right past him, although she whispered a small warning. "Stay away from ojou-sama." As Cygnus's brain stabbed itself in confusion, she walked over to Negi. "Negi-sensei. You dropped this." She handed over the letter to him.

"Sakurazaki-san?" Negi blinked, obviously recognizing the girl. "Thank you! You saved my life back there."

"It would be wise to be more careful, we are no longer in Mahora Academy… and the darkness looms everywhere," she flicked a glance at Cygnus. She began to walk off… but then noticed Sora. She seemed somewhat surprised by his appearance, because she said, "I didn't expect to see you so soon. We should meet later." With that, she walked off.

Cygnus, finally in mental working order, snarled and decided that the girl was up to no good. He had noticed something drop when that Heartless fell, so he searched the ground until he found it.

He found himself looking at a small, rectangular piece of paper with Japanese kanji written on it. "What's this?"

Negi and Sora came over to where Cygnus was. "It's a charm…" Negi answered.

"Is that how they're controlling the Heartless?" Sora asked.

"Big bro! It feels rather suspicious that Sakurazaki-san was around just as that creature showed up, isn't it?" Kamo pointed out.

"My sentiments exactly," Cygnus murmured. "She could be a spy for them!"

"A spy?" Sora blinked. He thought for a moment before facing Negi. "This looks a bit more complex than we thought. Maybe we need to keep an eye on her for now." Sora also wandered what the swordswoman could want from him… maybe he could talk to her later.

Negi sighed. "We're in for it now."

----

_Couldn't things go normally once?_ Asuna Kagurazaki pondered as she went looking for Negi. The tall redhead had figured that funny incidents with frogs would've been yet another magic induced disaster on Negi's part. But then some weirdoes showed up… and then another fiasco involving rigging a waterfall with sake. Dragging all those girls to bed before the other teachers caught on was a chore on its own. Now she wanted answers, and Negi was to most likely to have them.

"Negi! Hey Negi!" She called out. She found him in the foyer, talking to those new guys again. She walked over, which immediately caught his attention over to her. Seeing as he was looking at her she continued, "I managed to get all those girls back to their beds… but what's going on? And why are they here?" She pointed to Sora and his friends.

"Well um… the truth is…" The young boy groped for words.

"Just tell her, big bro!" Kamo suggested.

"We think Class 3-A might be targets for the Kansai Magic Association," Negi sighed.

"What?" Asuna blinked in near disbelief. But it made sense. Only a magic association would try and screw things up royally by means of magical frogs. "I knew those frogs were suspicious…" She glanced at Sora. "But who is he?"

He looked at Sora. "He and his friends just happened to stop by and lend a hand when I needed it."

"Hi," Sora waved meekly. He introduced himself and his friends. "Don't worry," he added. "We work with magic, too."

"Ah, okay!" Asuna bowed. She found Donald and Goofy to be far stranger than the mere appearance of Sora or Cygnus, but she pushed that thought back into the recesses of her mind. "I'm Asuna Kagurazaki. Sorry that Negi got you mixed up in all this."

"Heh, that's all right, we help people for a living!" Sora grinned. He turned to Negi. "We'll lend a helping hand, too!"

Negi smiled. "Thank you, Sora-san, Asuna-san." Kamo leapt up to Negi's head, surprising Donald and Goofy as he spoke to Asuna.

"Ah, that's right! Big sis! You know anything about a Setsuna Sakurazaki? She might be a spy!"

"A spy?.!" Asuna blinked in confusion. She furrowed her brows in thought. "She was a childhood friend of Konoka's… but I haven't seen them speak to each other…"

"Wait!" Negi dug in a bag and produced a book. Curious, Sora peered over to see that it was in fact, a class roll. He saw several familiar faces, most of them being the girls he encountered earlier. Negi pointed to Setsuna's face. "Ah! It says she's from Kyoto!"

"She's from HERE?" Cygnus blinked. "Then that means—"

"She's the spy!" Kamo exclaimed. He scrambled down to Negi's pocket and picked up an unusual card. This card had a picture of Asuna herself wielding a large sword. "I figured it may come to this, that's why I saved this card!"

"What is that?" Asuna pointed at the card.

"The Charta Ministralis, a proof of contract!" Kamo explained. "Your bond as a partner with big bro is in this card! A pactio!"

"Huh?" Goofy blinked. "Gawrsh, what's a pactio?"

"Ah, you're not from around here, are you?" Kamo scampered over until he was between Sora and Cygnus. "You see, magic users around her must chant spells to use them, leaving them vulnerable in the heat of battle. That's why they need a bond, formed by a pactio!" He held up the card. "This pactio makes the person on the card stronger when they use the power of their mage partner! She can even use the weapon on the card!"

"Really?" This caught Asuna's interest. "How?"

"You summon it by calling out 'Adeat!' It means 'come forth!'"

"Interesting," Sora grinned. "How do you make this pactio?"

"Maybe you should make one with Cygnus, Sora!" Goofy suggested. Cygnus raised an eyebrow.

"You sure you want to do that?" Kamo grinned. "To form a pactio, you have to stand in one of my homemade pactio circles… and kiss!"

"WHAT." Sora's jaw hung open.

"On the lips!"

"AWW HELL NAW." Cygnus objected, disgusted at the thought. Sora shared that same sentiment.

Even Asuna did. "Don't remind me…" They had formed it in earlier times, to take down a classmate that at one time tried to do them in… But she wasn't fond of kissing the ten year-old boy on the lips.

Negi sniffed himself. "Ummm… It's about time for the teacher's bath."

"We'll talk later, then," Asuna nodded.

Donald inadvertently sniffed Cygnus. "You need one, too."

Cygnus sniffed himself. "Ouch. You're right. For once."

"HEY!"

"Donald, we need to make sure the girls are safe, ahyuck!" Goofy said before dragging him away from Cygnus.

"We'll meet later," Cygnus said to Sora before going off with Negi. "Treat Asuna with respect, okay?"

"Like I wouldn't. You're the one to talk," Sora retorted with a grin. Cygnus merely stuck out his tongue.

Asuna blinked at the exchange of words. She sighed.

"Hey, wanna go outside?" Sora offered, an innocent smile on his face.

Asuna thought for a moment. He seemed innocent enough, and she could use the fresh air… "Why not."

"Okay!" Sora burst outside, almost mowing down a maid walking in. He crashed into her cart and fell onto the floor. "Oww… Sorry!" He moved to help her move her kart back in order.

The maid bowed, her long, black hair still staying behind her. "My apologies."

"Umm… that's okay," Asuna walked past her, bowing to her as well. She turned to Sora. "You need to watch where you're going."

"Uhhh… Sorry, I got a bit carried away. Been a while since I've seen the night sky," Sora answered as the two of them walked off.

Once inside, the maid put on a large pair of glasses, her apologetic demure now a sinister one. "Ah, so he's here. Just like they said he would… Time to get to work!" Small monkeys popped out of the laundry cart, apparently chattering their agreement.

----

"A child teacher, eh?" Cygnus casually asked Negi. The open-aired bath in the Arashiyama Hotel seemed to do wonders against both his attitude and his body. Negi and Kamo sat opposite of him next to a tall rock, relaxing in the water as well. "So it's true."

"Yeah," Negi answered. "It's my dream to become a Magister Magi… a powerful mage, just like my dad. I graduated at the top of my class, and my next part of training turned out to teach English to these girls." He chuckled nervously at this. "My dad had a holiday home here in Kyoto, so I arranged a field trip in hopes I could find it. This Kansai Magic Association thing just turned out to be a surprise complication… Plus the fact that one of my students could be in on this, too," He looked dejected for a moment, but his previous perk returned quickly. "That's why I'm grateful I have you and your friends' help, and Asuna's as well!"

"Yeah!" Kamo spoke up. "You and your buddies showed up at the nick of time! We may have not known how to deal with those shadow creatures!"

"Heh, thanks," Cygnus grinned. His smile faded slightly. "I'm looking for family, too. I was split from everyone I knew aside from Sora and his buddies about three months ago."

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard one of the doors slide open. "Hmm? Is one of the male teachers coming in?" Negi asked.

So it turned out to be a surprise when a certain girl with a one-sided ponytail walked in, wearing only a two piece bathing suit. She had taken to bathing herself calmly while just on the other side of that rock, the other three were panicking.

"Sakurazaki-san!" Negi hissed in panic.

"That damned woman…" Cygnus snarled, remembering her earlier actions and her vague warning to him. "Negi, we can't pick a fight with her here, we need to get out of the way!"

"Big bro! Cygnus is right! We've got to avoid her; we stand no chance of winning!" Kamo said. Negi nodded in agreement.

"Hmmm…" Setsuna began to speak, and the other three quieted down to listen. "Things aren't adding up. The Keyblade Master has made his appearance with a dark child. I thought Negi-sensei would've done something by now, being a mage…"

"H-How did she know I was a mage?.!" Negi asked quietly, his voice strained. "I haven't told that many people!"

"C-curse her… two steps ahead of everyone," Cygnus snarled. He turned to Negi. "She could be a spy after all." He summoned his Keyblade, the weapon of his heart taking the dark shape of a giant, black and red key.

Big mistake.

Setsuna immediately sensed the dark aura. "Who's there!" Immediately flinging an empty bucket against the rock, she watched as the wooden bucket fell to pieces, getting a reaction from two shapes in the back. "Found you, you won't get away!" She pulled her sword to her side and charged towards the rock. "Shinmeiryuu secret technique... Zanganken!" With one smooth stroke, Setsuna severed the rock (and a tiny piece of Negi's hair) with her sword, an amazing display of strength.

Negi, Cygnus, and Kamo squealed in horror. Having barely avoided death, they scooted away. "She amazing!" Negi breathed.

"Damnable woman!" Cygnus cursed again. "Negi, you know of an attack that can blow away weapons?"

"Yes, I do!"

"Prepare to use it when I say so!" Cygnus began to climb up the rock, still hidden from Setsuna's view. "Until then, hide!" Focusing back to the task at hand, the dark kid growled, having had enough of that girl picking on him and his friends. It was going to end here.

Still only seeing movement behind the rock, Setsuna charged closer. That was until a dark shape leapt over the rock and slammed down, forcing her to block the surprise attack. "WOMAN! I WILL BE YOUR OPPONENT!"

Cygnus stared down the girl, his Keyblade in hand. Ignoring her bikini and the fact that he was only clad in a towel. He swung his Keyblade in a mighty arc, trying to overpower the girl with strength alone. However, she easily deflected most of his attacks. _His sword skills are unfocused… it's doubtful he's with them_, she thought as she dodged more of his furious swipes.

_She's too fast! I can't get a hit on her!_ Cygnus was forced to go on the defensive as she led several successive attacks against him. He dodged to the left as another swipe tried to sever his torso.

The good news was she was now in position.

Seeing this, Cygnus bellowed, "NOW!" hoping that Negi got the message. He then dismissed his Keyblade with a wry grin.

He did. With a small chant, he unlocked his magic power. "Ras tel ma scir magister…" Unveiling a tiny wand, he pointed it at Setsuna's sword. "Flans Exarmatio!" A powerful burst of wind blasted Setsuna's sword away from her. Hot steam burst in the air, slightly impairing everyone's vision.

That didn't stop Cygnus, though. Summoning his Keyblade back, he flipped it and swung with the smooth side. "I WIN."

He missed.

By that time, Setsuna had seen where the burst of spell came from. The mysterious intruder was vulnerable, and hopefully she could scare the dark boy into not attacking. Rushing over to the other intruder, she slammed one hand across his neck and another in his private area. "Who are you? If you don't answer, I'll crush it and snap it off!"

The mist had cleared. Much to her horror, she found the person she was threatening was none other than Negi. The boy shuddered in shock and fear. "N-Negi-sensei?" Negi seemed to only answer in incoherent babbling. Seeing what she was doing to the boy, she immediately removed her hands. "I-I'm sorry Negi-sensei! Attacking the vitals is just a basic theory and… no, I'm sorry, Negi-sensei."

Cygnus stomped over to the other two. "Damn it, woman! The kid had nothing to do with all this, and then you go and traumatize him like that!"

"That's right!" Kamo hopped on top of Negi's head, pointing an accusatory paw. "You've done it now, Setsuna Sakurazaki! You're a spy for the Kansai Magic Association aren't you!"

"No!" Setsuna denied her charges.

"Don't give me that," Cygnus jeered. "Prepare yourself!" Cygnus began to charge towards the girl, only to fall flat on his face into the water. Five humiliating seconds later Setsuna saw a tiny white flag being waved from the water.

"I'm not your enemy!" Setsuna stated boldly. "I, seat fifteen Sakurazaki Setsuna, am sensei's ally!"

Negi only blinked in slight confusion.

Cygnus rose out of the water. "Tch. No time to be toying around with you," In an attempt to save what little dignity he had left, he stormed away.

----

Konoka happily shuffled over towards the bathroom in her slippers. "Secchan should love the snack I left on her bed!" She said. Sliding open the door to the bathroom, she was greeted with a strange sight.

Small monkeys had perched themselves all over the bathroom. At the center was a woman in a large monkey suit, seemingly expecting her arrival. The woman inside the suit sneered at Konoka. "Welcome to Kyoto, Konoka-ojou-sama."

Konoka only stared in surprise.

----

From the baths, Setsuna and Negi heard a scream that was quickly silenced. Setsuna immediately recognized it. "Konoka-ojou-sama!"

Negi hopped out of the bathwater and wasted no time in getting dressed. Setsuna followed suit.

----

Gazing out into the night sky, Asuna pointed to one of the stars. "So the planet you come from is one of those stars?"

"You could say that," Sora answered, a small smile on his face. "Many of the planets are so different and yet so alike… My world is a huge beach I called home. Once all this is over, I can go back…"

Their talk was interrupted when a huge shape flew out of the hotel and landed in front of them. Sora and Asuna found themselves face-to-face with a woman in a giant monkey suit. In her hands was an unconscious Konoka.

"W-what are you doing?" Sora asked, clenching his fists.

"Konoka!" Asuna gasped.

But the woman left no answer. Instead, she chucked out two charms, each turning into a familiar monkey Heartless. When the creatures jumped to attack Sora, she finally said "Goodbye!" as if she were casually leaving an old friend.

Sora blocked their assault and smashed in one with his Keyblade. The other, however, performed a sliding kick and knocked the boy right off of his feet.

"Asuna-san!" Negi called out, arriving on the scene with Setsuna.

"Negi!" Asuna pointed towards where Sora was struggling with the Powerwild Heartless.

Setsuna leapt into action. With one smooth stroke she sliced the Heartless in two.

Sora recovered. "Thanks!"

"She's getting away, we need to catch her!" Negi pointed towards the fleeing woman.

----

"Hmph, that was easier than I imagined," the woman mused, her dark plan coming into fruition. She ran through the streets with the unconscious Konoka in her arms. "When I bring Konoka with me, the Kansai Magic Association will…"

"Hold it right there!" She heard a voice shout.

"Tch!" She turned to see four familiar faces: the child mage, the older girl with him, the Shinmeiryuu girl and that spiky haired brat. Apparently the latter was the one who shouted it, as he continued, "Let the girl go!"

"Persistent people," she murmured as she continued her escape.

"Gah! She's escaping into the station!" Kamo exclaimed.

As she escaped into the train, she faced our heroes with another taunt. "Play some more with my friends!" She threw a selection of charms, each turning into a Heartless.

"Not this again!" Sora snarled as he unleashed a Strike Raid to the first Powerwild's face.

Negi ran forward, unlocking his magic once before chanting, "Septemdecim Saggita Lucis!" Seventeen arrows of light blasted all of the Heartless before they could launch an effective counterattack. Negi smiled as the Heartless disappeared.

"Nice!" Sora grinned as the four of them plowed their way into the station. Seeing the empty station, however, Sora blinked in confusion. "This place is closed already?"

"Not really, I think the Heartless may have scared away all the passengers!" Asuna answered.

All four hopped into the train just before it took off. Seeing the fleeing monkey lady, Negi pointed. "There she is!"

Seeing that the group spotted her, she chuckled lightly. "Hmmm… guess I'll use the second of my Charm-sans." One of her tiny shikigami monkeys pulled out a charm and threw it against the door window just as it closed, separating the group. "Charm-san, Charm-san, facilitate my escape!"

The charm glowed with power before a huge wave of water burst from it, sweeping the group off of their feet and submerging the entire carriage in water They all screamed as the water wreaked holy havoc in the train.

"What kind of power is that!" Sora exclaimed as he tried to grab hold of a rail.

"Ho ho ho! That's the power of charms my dear boy," The woman taunted. "You can all have fun drowning in the carriage! Bye now!"

While the others panicked and quickly lost air Setsuna struggled quietly. _To fall for such an enemy trick… I guess I'm not qualified for… Konoka-ojou-sama…_

That memory came back. That cry for help when Konoka was drowning in the river…

Her failure there was NOT happening again. She opened her eyes and unleashed yet another attack. "Zankuusen!" Her sword sliced a deadly wave of air, breaking a hole in the carriage. The resulting rush also shattered the door where the monkey woman stood, flushing out everyone into another station.

As the group collected itself, Sora was the first to speak. "Thanks for saving us back there…" he then turned to the monkey woman. "You see that! That's our power!" He got into a fighting stance with his Keyblade. "Give back Konoka!"

"Ah… you're the boy with the key…" The monkey woman mused. "I'm impressed with the lot of you so far but… I'm not giving Konoka-ojou-sama back." She turned tail and ran again.

"Ah, wait!" Negi said, but she was nearly out of sight, forcing the heroes to pick up and run after her. "S-Setsuna-san! What's going on?"

"I thought they were just picking on us!" Asuna added. "So why are they kidnapping Konoka?"

"The truth is… back before all this started, there were those in the association that objected to Konoka-ojou-sama leaving to attend Mahora Academy…" Setsuna answered as they continued running. "It's most likely they're seeking to use her powers to gain complete domination of the Kansai Magic Association."

"What!" the others exclaimed simultaneously.

"She has powers?" Sora blinked, obviously missing something. From his earlier encounter she seemed pretty normal… _But if the Heartless are involved, she must have some sort of power… could she be a Princess of Heart?.!_

Any more questions were jilted when another swarm of Heartless greeted them. Sora remembered these bee-like Heartless from before. Cursing under his breath he whipped forward and spun around, using a Fire spell to knock them down in a swirling tornado of flames. Setsuna finished them off with a flurry of sword attacks.

"This must've been planned from the beginning!" Setsuna said. "Thank goodness I'm here." With that she took off, leaving the others to chase her.

----

"You've done well to follow me this far," The woman chuckled as she faced down the others in a long stairway. She was out of the suit now, docked in the maid's clothing she had earlier. The unconscious Konoka rested in the monkey suit's grasp. Setsuna was in front, with Sora right by her side. Asuna and Negi were further back. "But this is as far as you go. It ends here. Play with the last of my Charm-sans." She pulled out another charm.

"I won't let you!" Setsuna roared as she leapt to attack.

"Charm-san, Charm-san, facilitate my escape!" The woman chucked the slip towards her. "Charm technique "Dai" character burn!" With that chant a huge burst of flame shaped like the "Dai" character exploded in front of her. Setsuna stepped back, weary of the intense heat of the flames. "That fire repels any normal person. So… guess this is goodbye then."

The game wasn't over yet. "Ras tel ma scir Magister…" Negi's chant began. "Freyt un Vende… Frans Saltatio Bleuerea!" This powerful form of wind swept forward in an arc, blowing away the flames with ease.

"What?" The woman blinked in shock. "How are you so powerful?"

"That's what you get for underestimating us!" Sora boasted. "Game's OVER!" He chucked his Keyblade at her in a perfect Strike Raid maneuver.

And it would've hit, too, had there not been someone raising the earth to block the attack.

"What?" Sora blinked, seeing his attack deflected. However, one look above the impromptu tower of earth revealed who was standing on top of it. "AH!"

"Yo Sora. Long time, no see," Terra sneered down on him. Her blond hair covered one of her eyes, giving her a far more menacing look.

"Terra!" Sora recognized her from an earlier attack back on the former Earth. "What are you doing here?"

"I was told a brat like you would show up to mess up my plans! So I hired protection," The woman sneered. She turned to Terra. "I'll leave them to you, Terra-han."

"With pleasure," Terra grinned, clenching her fists. She turned to Sora, hand outstretched. "I didn't get to fight you last time, so let me show you how I play." Her eyes glowed yellow, and shards of earth flew towards Sora and the others.

"Whoa!" Sora and Setsuna dodged with agility, but Negi and Asuna, who didn't see the attack coming, barely avoided the attack. But Terra's assault did not stop there. She jumped up and drop-kicked Sora into the ground followed by a rush attack towards Setsuna. She could barely recover before Terra picked her up and chucked her into Sora. Both of them struggled to keep up with Terra's wicked attacks.

"We have to help them!" Asuna shouted, looking at the fight. She turned to the ermine. "Oi, Kamo! What's that word that activates this card?"

Kamo stuttered in surprise. "U-um it's 'Adeat'!"

"Here goes nothing… Adeat!" The card with her face shined with a white light, temporarily blinding her for a moment before she found herself holding…

…a giant paper fan.

"What the hell is this?" Asuna glared back at Kamo and Negi, both who also looked surprised at her possession.

"That's funny…" Negi scratched his head. "Maybe you don't have enough power to reach the sword yet?"

Asuna just shook this off. "Gah, I guess there's no helping it!" She ran forward, charging with all her might. "RAUGH!" She swung the paper fan to Terra's stomach while the girl was distracted.

Much to her surprise, the attack actually hurt.

"W-what…?" Terra staggered back, shock and pain registered in her features.

This obviously shocked the monkey woman as well. "How is that girl able to harm Terra-han with just a _paper fan_?"

"Hey!" Terra turned to the woman. "Get out of here! I got these clowns!"

"I guess that works!" Asuna said with a grin. "Sora-san! Sakurazaki-san!"

"Right!" Sora answered. "Let's pound her!" He leapt to attack, Keyblade poised for a perfect strike.

"You won't be so lucky anymore!" Terra countered with more shards of earth, forcing Sora to dodge before he could land his attack. Setsuna and Asuna pressed attacks as well, but Terra blocked their onslaught.

"I think I'll be taking my leave now…" The woman stepped back, away from all the chaos. She moved to pick up Konoka…

"Oh no you don't! Ras tel ma scir Magister…" Negi held out his wand. "Aer Capturae!" Bursts of wind shot out from his wand, moving in to bind the woman…

"AIIIE! Help me!" She tried to hide behind the unconscious Konoka.

"Ah!" Seeing that Konoka was now in the line of fire, he shouted, "Diverge!" The arrows of wind flew away and dissipated. Seeing her blink in confusion unharmed, Negi shouted, "Let go of Konoka-san! That's cheating!"

"Hahaha… I know your type. Backing away at the slightest chance that the hostage could get hurt," She stood up, carrying Konoka over her shoulder, her rear to the crowd. "Why, this girl certainly came in handy… I think I can keep using her like this!"

"What are you planning to do with her?" Sora had stopped fighting Terra long enough to ask the question.

"Good question! I believe we'll use this new power of darkness to make her our puppet. It'll be great!" She stroked her chin thoughtfully.

"What?" Sora blinked.

"What did you say?" Asuna and Negi whispered simultaneously.

Setsuna clenched her teeth.

"Looks like we win this time!" The woman chuckled in a singsong voice. "So long, you green-bottomed brats!" To accentuate her point, she smacked Konoka's butt tauntingly.

That was a very, very bad move.

Firstly, this put Terra into deep trouble. When Setsuna moved immediately to help Konoka, the earth wielding girl tried to stop her. That ended in failure when Setsuna stomped on her face to catapult herself further towards the insidious charm wielding woman.

Secondly, during her speech, she hadn't noticed the dark shape forming behind her, the teenage child summoning his own Keyblade. The moment she finished her taunt, the person barked, "DAMN YOU WOMAN!"

Shocked, the woman turned to face an extremely angry Cygnus. The boy's hateful face twisted into an evil sneer. "Do me a favor." He whipped his Keyblade back in a calculated fashion, his smooth side toward his victim. "JUST DIE!"

"Cygnus! NO!" Sora shouted.

Too late. Cygnus smashed his Keyblade into the woman's stomach, sending her airborne with ridiculous ease. Konoka fell out of her grasp, but Setsuna caught her safely in midair. The woman disappeared into the sky with a ding.

Terra groaned. This was a failure… she would be hearing about it from Slade. Seeing how livid everyone was… it was best to retreat. "Tch. I'll return soon enough." And with that she disappeared under a wind of dirt and dust.

Since Konoka was safe, Sora stomped over to the dark kid and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. "CYGNUS YOU IDIOT! KONOKA COULD'VE BEEN KILLED!"

The realization hit the boy like a ton of bricks. Backing away from Sora, he muttered softly, "I just wanted to save her… that damn woman…"

Seeing Cygnus was more or less actually feeling sorry, Sora simply sighed and chastised him. "Just watch it next time."

"Cygnus did what he could," Negi said, stepping up behind Asuna and Kamo as they appeared above the stairs with them. "It's going to be a while before that crazy monkey woman returns…"

"Dah! Speaking of that, she said she was going to use drugs on Konoka-san!" Kamo exclaimed.

"Don't tell me that—" Setsuna began, but shifted gears and changed her attention to the girl in her arms. "Konoka-ojou-sama!" She gently shook her.

"Aaah?" Konoka stirred, awakening from her slumber. "Secchan…" Seeing the girl smile and the others gather, Konoka continued. "Ah, Secchan, I had this strange dream that I was kidnapped by monkeys… but Secchan, Negi-kun, and Asuna came to save me…" Sora and Cygnus face-faulted for being left out, but shook that off.

"It's okay…" Setsuna almost purred.

Konoka's eyes widened. Then, with a tearful smile, she said, "Thank goodness… Secchan doesn't hate me after all."

Everyone but Setsuna and Konoka blinked in confusion over that statement.

Setsuna only gasped and blushed slightly. "Ah! I wanted to talk to Kono-chan as well and—" she caught herself. "AH! I apologize!" She stepped down to a bow in front of Konoka, who stared back, flummoxed. "I am merely thankful I am able to protect Kono-ch… ojou-sama. I wish I could do so from the shadows, but…" She stood up quickly. "I-I'm sorry!" She burst away and ran down the stairs!

"Secchan!" Konoka called, but it fell on deaf ears.

Asuna thought for a moment. There had to be more from this story, judging by their reactions to each other. Cygnus picked up on it, too, but wasn't as fast as Asuna on offering a solution (not that he would've come up with a good one). "Sakurazaki-san!" She bellowed.

This had caught Setsuna's attention. She looked up to see Asuna waving at her. "Let's all meet tomorrow, okay?"

Setsuna looked at her for a moment, before smiling softly, acknowledging the request and sprinting off again.

Konoka blinked, but Asuna turned to her and smiled. "It's okay."

"Good thinking, Miss Asuna," Cygnus added, rubbing his chin thoughtfully and adding a rare title of respect. "That Setsuna is something else." He turned to Konoka. "Please forgive my umm… less than sane actions back there. I'll help too!"

"Yeah, we're all here to help!" Sora added cheerfully.

Konoka smiled.

Cygnus grinned like he just won the lottery.

Sora noticed this and said, "You know what Donald said."

"AWWWWWW." Cygnus crashed.

------

"You've taken quite a bit of damage, Miss Amagsaki," Slade stated calmly, watching as her paper monkeys tended to her wounds.

"Th-that damn dark child came out of nowhere…" The woman grimaced as one of the monkeys tended a sore spot under her chest. "But next time I _will_ be prepared."

"It appears we've underestimated the Keyblade masters as well as the child mage," Slade answered.

Terra returned in a flurry of dust. "Slade. I have contacted the other two. They'll be here in two days."

"Good," Slade turned away. "We'll see if the boy and this Sin Angel member are what they say they are. The girl will yet be ours."

-----

Having seen most of the fighting between the Keyblade Masters and the wicked charm woman (and having to restrain himself from helping the former), the short figure shrouded in black rubbed his chin. "Heh, if this is just day one of this so called field trip, I can't wait until I can play!" Deciding to check on his partner back in that Mahora Academy, the figure placed two fingers on his head. Psychic communication was new to him and still wasn't a strong point, but he decided to try it out anyway. _Vexen! Yo Vexen!_

----

Vexen, the man in question, was surprised to be contacted. _…-u find Ansem's stuff yet?_

_Not yet._ The cloaked man answered. _Why are you bothering me now?_

…_bored! That, and I wanna tell you the Keyblade wielders kicked ass, as usual!_

_Why am I not surprised._ Vexen grinned under his hood slightly. Sora held his own against him in a previous fight. _You can help them tomorrow. Meanwhile, I've met somebody… fascinating on this end. _He shut off the link and turned back towards the subject of his interest.

"I still don't get why you're here, old man," the girl stared coolly at the cloaked person before her. She had long, blond hair and dark blue eyes. Although she looked no older than ten, she spoke with maturity beyond her years. A much taller and more mechanical girl with green hair flanked her side, staring emotionlessly.

The cloaked man removed his hood. "As I said before… you fascinate me, Miss Evangeline," Vexen gave a soft smile, something that wasn't quite his usual self. "Your powers are unparalleled for someone in such a tiny body… my colleague and I recognize when someone is stronger than we are."

"Hmmm?" Evangeline raised an eyebrow in interest. It's not often she gets a flatterer ignoring outside appearances (well, mostly.). "Keep going."

"I would like for you to show me your power." Vexen stated.

"What?" Evangeline's small grin dropped, replaced by annoyance. "That can't happen, not here."

Vexen thought for a moment. "Ah, that. The curse." A smile he dropped earlier had returned. "I believe I know enough magic… I can at least alleviate some of the effects."

"Really?"

"In essence, I can restore you at full power. That man's strength is not impossible to overcome… Besides, it's about time you escaped this place, isn't it?"

Evangeline thought this over. This mysterious man was entirely unreadable… and yet it appeared that he was hiding nothing. The girl answered, "Show me you're telling the truth… and maybe, just maybe I'll show you what I'm capable of," Evangeline smiled wickedly in the darkness. "Chachamaru."

"Yes Master," the robotic girl beside her responded.

"Let's go."

"Oh, and one more thing," Vexen added. "The Keyblade Masters are here. They too need to see your power… although for entirely different reasons. I'll be waiting patiently, Miss Evangeline." With that, Vexen disappeared.

"The Keyblade children…" Eva thought for a moment. "This just got interesting."

(Oy! Longer chapter than I imagined! I hope I have introduced you well to the world of Negima. But suit up folks, this arc is gonna be a long one. There's a lot of introductory stuff here as well.

Next chapter takes us to the day after. The villains have disappeared for now, but that doesn't make things problem free! A love confession, a relationship explained and a cross with the Sin Angel all await next time on Kingdom Hearts Sin Angel!

**Footnote on Japanese honorifics:**

**-san, -kun - usual titles for people you're not TOO close to. –kun is preferable for boys**

**-sensei - teacher**

**ojou-sama - address for ladies far more important than you are.)**

P.S: I've saved everyone's previous reviews, so don't panic that yours are gone!**  
**


	6. Episode 5: Nodoka

**Kingdom Hearts: Sin Angel**

**Episode 5: Nodoka**

"A-um… Negi-sensei…" Nodoka Miyazaki sat on her knees, facing a miniature doll of Negi. "If it's… okay with you, would you like to ga… guh…you would like to come with us, wouldn't you?" The shy girl was of average size and she had a heart-shaped face nearly covered by her purple bangs.

"Nodoka! Time for breakfast!" Yue called out, appearing in the doorway. "Everyone's gathered at the front hall on the first floor."

"Okay…" Nodoka acknowledged as she went to get dressed. Brushing away her bangs and tying her hair back, she gathered her courage. "All right!" She would make her move today.

----

"Hi, Sora-san!" Negi greeted the Keyblade Master as he sat down at the table for breakfast.

"Hey," Sora returned, somewhat tired. "Sorry if I come off dazed, last night was a pain."

"Cygnus told us about the whole chase last night," Goofy said to Sora as he, Donald, and the aforementioned dark kid arrived at the table. "Is Miss Konoka okay?"

"Yeah," Sora affirmed. "We just need to watch out for that crazy woman again…"

"Negi-kun! Sora-kun! You both look tired," the long-haired Konoka herself appeared, a gentle smile on her face. "Thank you for helping me last night! I don't understand what happened, but I know you guys came to help, and Cygnus-kun helped Secchan rescue me!" She shot Cygnus a bright smile. The dark boy proceeded to almost melt in pleasure until Donald smacked him again.

Cygnus was about to curse out Donald before something else caught his eye— Setsuna Sarukazaki eating silently on the other side of the table.

Konoka noticed her as well. "Secchan! Come over here with us!"

Unfortunately, Setsuna didn't take to this request very well. She got up… and tried to walk away.

"Secchan, why are you running away?" Konoka asked, sadness creeping into her voice.

"I-I'm not running away!" Setsuna stammered, carrying her lunch tray and fleeing as fast as she could, ignoring Konoka's pleas and Negi's protests.

"Tch. You call that guardianship?" Cygnus retorted.

Setsuna twitched, but continued her escape.

"And you thought I was bad news for Konoka? Get back here!" Cygnus moved to stop her, but his effort fell short when Donald stuck out a foot, causing the dark kid to fall flat on his face. Ignoring the laughter of the other girls (and Sora), Cygnus bounced back up, his face etched in absolute fury. "DAMN YOU, DONALD!" Without warning he grabbed Donald's neck and began shaking it violently. Sora's laughter stopped abruptly as he tried to separate the two. Only Goofy smacking the dark kid with his shield stopped his attack.

It was like the Three Stooges all over again.

Sighing, Asuna turned to Konoka. "You mentioned she was a childhood friend of yours… what happened between you two?"

The long-haired girl took a sad sigh. "I… I haven't told you this story but…" seeing Negi turn his head and the others gather around in attention, she waited a moment before continuing. "Before I started living with Asuna over at Mahora, I lived here. I was raised in a huge, quiet mansion. As I lived deep in the mountains I had no friend to call my own…" Her mind drifted back to the first day she met Setsuna. The shy girl had appeared with visiting Shinmeiryuu swordsmen… and they had introduced her to the lonely girl. "Secchan was the first friend I ever had. She was learning Kendo. She protected me from things like scary dogs. She was always there for me if I was in danger…" Her most idyllic times in her childhood were always with Setsuna. Up until that day… "Even when it looked like I was going to drown in the river, she tried her best to save me…" The terrible rush of water seemed to flood her thoughts as she remembered trying to keep afloat. Setsuna had tried to rescue, despite her minimal swimming experience or strength. "In the end, we were both saved by the adults. She said she wanted to become stronger to protect me… I just wanted us to keep playing. But after that day, Secchan became busier with Kendo training, and we didn't meet that often. Then I moved to Mahora…

"I was able to meet Secchan again when she moved there as well, but…" Tears began to form. "It was like I had done something wrong… Secchan wouldn't talk to me like she did before…"

"Oh…" Sora said, a sad tone creeping into his voice. That statement last night… was that what friendship drifting apart felt like? He knew the feeling… his spats with Riku during their previous adventure nearly drew a wedge between their friendship. He scanned around to see everyone else's reactions. Negi, Donald, and Goofy also looked pretty crestfallen. Asuna was too busy trying to comfort Konoka to really look sad, but Cygnus…

The dark kid had his face etched in a sad sort of consternation. He glanced over to the tearful girl, sadness in his eyes. As if a violent thought suddenly crossed his mind, he clenched his fist and stood up suddenly.

Sora quickly caught on. "Cygnus. Don't do anything stupid."

Cygnus stared at Sora for a moment, his face in all seriousness. He then broke into a grin and gave a thumbs-up before walking off in semi-pursuit of Setsuna. Sora watched him disappear before going back to finish breakfast.

-----

"So far, so good!" Asuna said to Negi and Sora as the three of them gathered in the foyer where the other students had congregated. "Thank goodness we managed to get Konoka back from that monkey lady…"

"Yes," Negi nodded. "But she could come back, so we need to keep an eye out on things."

"Where's everybody going today?" Sora asked, as he noticed that several students were putting on shoes and gathering things.

"We're going to Nara today," Negi answered, his face lighting up. "It's a scenic park with a petting zoo and a Buddhist temple and a lot of other stuff!"

"I haven't picked up on any Heartless activity, so maybe I could join you guys and hang out." Sora smiled. However, a new train of thought occurred to him. "I'm not sure if they'd come back though…"

Sora's ponderings were ignored by Negi, however, as the boy was lost in his own thought. _What should I do as a teacher? Everyone's going in separate places in Nara. And I can't deliver that note today…_ He mulled this over, unaware of the shy Nodoka slowly approaching him.

Even her approach was ignored as the hyperactive Makie flew in out of nowhere and threatened the child-teacher with a bear hug. "Negi! Come with our group today!"

"Ah!" Ayaka, the blond class president, heard this and countered with her own preposition. "Makie-san, Negi-sensei is traveling with Group Three today!"

Sora just blinked, feeling embarrassed over the growing number of girls that were arguing over the kid. Not certain on how to deal with the situation, he, Donald, and Goofy simply fidgeted as the arguing continued.

This stopped, however, as Nodoka Miyazaki gathered all of her courage and shouted above the rest. "N-Negi-sensei!" The entire room dropped into silence as the nervous girl continued. "I-if you'd like to, could you come with our group today?"

Negi blinked. "Uh…" Now that he'd thought about it, Miyazaki's group was most likely to be attacked by the Heartless and that monkey woman, as Konoka, Setsuna, and Asuna were in her group as well. Sora and his friends would follow wherever he went, so… "Yes, I'll go with your group today, Miyazaki-san!" After a bit of silence, the other girls cheered for Nodoka.

Sora simply grinned before Goofy commented, "I think Negi's even more popular with the ladies than Sora, ahyuck!"

Sora face-faulted.

----

"Wow…" Donald grinned. "This sure is nice!" The now eleven-strong group strolled though the park. It was a rather nice place, with people scattered about the walkway. Small concession stands were placed evenly around the walk. There were deer milling about the walkway, unconcerned (or just unafraid) of the humans around them.

As the others took to looking around the park, Cygnus kept his eyes on Konoka and Setsuna. Setsuna seemed to shy away from the group as much as possible, while Konoka was more than happy to tag along with Negi. "Hmph," Cygnus rubbed his chin.

"What?" Sora asked.

"I don't get that woman," Cygnus continued to stare down Setsuna.

"Not this again," Sora sighed. "Why are you obsessed over her anyway? We already know she's not a spy." Sora looked over for a moment to see Nodoka gain an audience with her two friends. Apparently they didn't seem to mind Donald or Goofy, as the two were standing in perfect sight and earshot of the girls and they did nothing to stop them. Sora didn't think anything of it as he turned back to Cygnus. "Listen, maybe she's trying to muster the courage to—" He quickly noticed Cygnus was gone. "Huh?" He saw the dark-skinned teenager sprint after Setsuna, Asuna, and Negi. "Hey, wait!"

----

"It doesn't look like that monkey lady isn't coming, is she?" Negi asked Setsuna and Asuna as they walked down a separate path.

"Nope, don't think so," Asuna answered, looking around.

"We should be okay," Setsuna added. "Just in case, I've sent shikigami over to the other groups. If something happens, I'll know." She turned to the other two. "I will do my utmost to protect Konoka-ojou-sama from the shadows, so please go and enjoy the school trip."

"What's with the shadows? You can be by her side, you know," Asuna persisted. She noticed Cygnus come up, and she continued. "She doesn't see you as a failure."

"Leave the shadows to me, woman," Cygnus said, giving Setsuna a wicked smile. "They don't suit you."

Attacked on two fronts, Setsuna stuttered a bit before she countered. "N-no. Someone like me shouldn't be making carefree conversation with—"

"Not this again!" Asuna sighed.

"Tch. What do you have to hide?" Cygnus persisted.

"I have nothing to hide," she leered coldly at Cygnus.

It wasn't very convincing, however, as Cygnus kept his snide grin. That was, until Sora caught up to them, "Cygnus! What's the big idea?"

"Huh?" Cygnus blinked. However, Sora's arrival unfortunately signaled a high-class assault in the form of several girls, Donald, and Goofy drop-kicking everyone but Negi.

"Hey Sora! We need to keep an eye on that temple over there!" Donald shouted as he and Goofy shoved a protesting Sora away.

"Yeah Asuna, let's see the Buddha Statue!" Yue and the last member of the group, the dark-haired Haruna Saotome, easily dragged Asuna away.

"Hey Secchan! I brought odangos! Want to eat them together?" Konoka dashed after a panicking Setsuna, holding a plate of the delicious snacks.

"I-I-I'm sorry ojou-sama, but I have an urgent task that—" Setsuna began as she tried to run away,

"OH NO YOU DON'T, YOU GET BACK HERE." Cygnus bellowed, chasing after both girls.

Negi stared at the rest of the group as they mysteriously abandoned him. Confusion distorting his features, he shook it off before realizing he wasn't entirely alone. Nodoka was still there, shaking with both anticipation and nevousness. "U-um… Negi-sensei?"

"Miyazaki-san." Negi greeted kindly. "It looks like everyone else has left. Want to walk by ourselves?"

"Y-yes! Gladly!" Nodoka answered happily, still stuttering.

It looked like her friends' plan worked.

----

Setsuna finally came to a stop nearby a set of trees. Having successfully escaped both Konoka and Cygnus, she paused to take a look around. It appeared she had ran to the edge of the park, as there was nary a soul around. Just her, a few trees, nature itself…

…and a short, hooded figure in a black coat.

"Hey, whatcha runnin' from?" The figure asked.

"I'm not running from anything," Setsuna answered. Taken aback by the figure, she quickly asked, "Who are you?"

"The fastest thing alive!" Sonic the Hedgehog removed the hood, showing his cobalt visage to the girl. She nearly jumped back in surprise. "Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog!" He stepped toward her a bit. "I know when someone's running away, I run all the time!"

"W-what?" Setsuna blinked. "Who are you to question me?"

"I saw your adventure with Sora and Cygnus last night! Going through all that trouble to rescue your best friend, only to run away when she talks to you!" Sonic explained. He then smirked. "Tch. And you call yourself a guardian."

Setsuna took offense to that, especially since Cygnus said the same thing earlier that day. "I will protect Konoka-ojou-sama with my life!"

"Oh really? Then prove it," Sonic grinned, materializing the giant axe/shiruken that served as his weapon. "How about it, a friendly fight? I've been itching to see what my ninja axe can do."

Setsuna unsheathed her sword, stepping into a fighting stance. "I don't fight for fun but… to prove to you, Sonic, if that's your name—that I take my job seriously… I will do it."

"You're already way too serious!" Sonic crowed, flinging his weapon towards her like a lethal boomerang. She dodged the attack with ease, sweeping forward and slashing down on Sonic with her sword. At least, she would have if Sonic was there. "Too slow!" Sonic taunted as he picked her up and chucked her backwards.

_His speed… he's even faster than the dark child!_ Setsuna thought as she sailed in the air. She had to dodge the ninja axe a second time as it swung back into Sonic's grasp. The blue hedgehog zigzagged towards her and swung his weapon in a mighty arc, but she easily blocked it. They clashed weapons a few times, with Sonic zipping around in an effort to confuse her.

Sonic jumped up and began to spin rapidly. His signature move, the spin attack, was now augmented by his weapon, increasing range and power. He barely missed Setsuna with a homing attack, and a second time had her sprawling on the ground despite her deflection of another attack. Setsuna recovered quickly and flipped out of harm's way as Sonic slammed down where she stood just moments before.

They clashed weapons again. Both combatants bounced off of trees, slicing at each other. Sonic shot forward once again…

…and went entirely too low, allowing Setsuna to stomp him into the ground.

Sonic recovered with ease. "Not bad," He grinned. "But let me show you how it's done!" He lunged once more.

Setsuna answered with her own attack. Both combatants stopped, however, when a dark Keyblade soared right between them and lodged itself in the tree behind them.

"What the hell is going on!" Cygnus bellowed. "I've been meaning to have a talk with you—dude, Sonic?" Cygnus's anger gave way to complete shock.

"Hey, Rob! Long time, no see!" Sonic grinned and gave a semi-salute. "How's it been hangin'?"

Cygnus stared blankly for a moment, unbelieving that Sonic was in front of him. He then did something completely random.

"Sonic!" He ran forward and hugged the blue hedgehog with childish glee. But that didn't last long. "AUGH, your quills!" He shook off the pain and winced at his throbbing arms before noticing Sonic's black coat. "You're with those Chaos Saint guys now, aren't you?"

"You could say that." Sonic shrugged, internally amused at Cygnus's display of affection. "Don't get me wrong, I'm still a good guy! But these guys have opened up a whole new can of worms." Sonic looked past Cygnus to see Sora and the red-haired Asuna running up behind them. "Hey guys, nice you could join the party!"

"Sonic?" Sora blinked. He'd only seen the cobalt wonder twice, one of those times frozen in a crystalline darkness. It seemed both weird and relieving to see him back to life.

"A b-b-blue hedgehog!" Asuna nearly jumped. "Now I've seen everything!"

"Lemme be the first to tell you that you probably haven't," Sonic grinned at Asuna. He turned to Sora. "Longer time, no see! How's things with you?"

"Good, I guess," Sora answered. "But what's with you? Why are you here?"

"To help out, of course!" Sonic gave a thumbs-up. "That's my job as a member of the Sin Angel… to help you guys out with your troubles!"

"Really?" Cygnus asked. He had to wonder about something though. "So why did you pick a fight with that woman?" He jerked his thumb at Setsuna.

"It was just a friendly fight, but she's way too serious!" Sonic answered. He turned to Cygnus. "But I would've thought you had more respect for the ladies, Rob. Where'd your game go?"

"WHAT."

Sonic laughed. "She has a name you know."

Cygnus gritted his teeth.

"Tch, I'll chat later, I gotta split!" And with those words, Sonic dashed away in a flash, leaving the group in a confused state.

Sora looked behind him to see a girl running up in the distance. "Ah!" He recognized Nodoka as she came closer, but her face was tear-streaked and she looked terribly distressed.

"Honya-chan?" Asuna said, referring to the girl by her nickname. "What's wrong?"

----

"You confessed to Negi?.!" Asuna exclaimed in shock.

"Y-yes—I mean no—ah, I wanted to, but I was too clumsy; I messed up badly," Nodoka sniffed. The other four had sat down around her as she sniffed and wiped the tears from her face. She looked up, seeing as she didn't recognize half the people around her. "I-I'm sorry, venting my personal issues around you," She said.

"That's all right," Setsuna answered.

"I don't want to sound insulting, but what do you see in Negi?" Sora asked Nodoka. "He's a pretty nice guy, but he's only ten years old."

"Th-that's because Negi-sensei is…" She looked skyward. "Normally he's the child everyone sees. But sometimes he has such an adult-like, strong demeanor that I wonder if he's actually older than we are."

"R-really?" Asuna blinked, somewhat disturbed by this revelation. He always seemed like a brat to her, albeit a precocious and reserved brat. He had trouble controlling the class when he first started teaching at Mahora Academy. But he did have his moments…

"I'm satisfied by just looking at him from afar… That's all the courage I have," Nodoka nearly whispered.

Cygnus stepped up and faced her. Unfortunately he had to grope for words. "So… uhhh… what were you going to do?"

Nodoka answered him, a shy smile on her face. "I'd thought I'd tell him how I felt."

"What happened after that?" Asuna asked.

Nodoka giggled. "I wanted to thank you, Asuna-san and Sarkurazaki-san. Cygnus-san, you too. I thought the both of you were scary, but that's not true, is it?"

"Eh?" Setsuna and Cygnus blinked, wondering what made them 'scary.'

"Awww, Cygnus isn't scary!" Sora said, a mischievous grin on his face as he casually put his arm on Cygnus's shoulder. "He's got more bark than bite, just like a… a poodle!"

Cygnus stared at Sora for a brief moment. "I… I hate you."

Nodoka giggled again. "Ah… I feel relieved now! I'm going! Bye!" She stood up and ran off, leaving the other four once again confused.

"I noticed we're getting more confused lately," Sora stated the obvious.

"Just shut up." Cygnus snarled, still smarting from the poodle jibe.

"We should follow her," Asuna said, to which there was general agreement.

----

Negi wandered the park, once again alone. The air felt nice, but more pressing matters were at hand. Nodoka Miyazaki had been acting strange all day from the moment they went to the park. She was extremely nervous the entire time they were at the temple, and a particularly embarrassing moment had her flee the place entirely. He figured that with his luck, he'd see the panties of his entire class. Not a gentlemanly thing to do!

Hoping to improve matters, he set out searching for Nodoka. "Miyazaki-san! Where are you?" Seeing no answer for a moment, he began to think out loud. "This trip has been troublesome, considering that letter, Konoka-san, and that monkey woman… And I think Sora-san has brought troubles of his own."

"Negi-sensei!" He suddenly heard. Turning around, he saw Nodoka running up to him, coming to a stop five feet away and trying to catch her breath.

"Ah, Miyazaki-san!" Negi greeted. "I was wondering where you went!"

"U-um… the truth is…" Nodoka began.

At this moment, Sora, Asuna, Setsuna, and Cygnus ran into the scene, hidden in view from the other two by a row of bushes. "They're here!" Sora whispered. All four crouched down into the bushes.

At this, Kamo randomly popped up from his hidden perch on Asuna's back, also interested in the new development. "Just as I thought! She really is serious about it!" He whispered.

"Say what?" Asuna hissed.

But their bickering was silenced as they turned back to observe Nodoka and Negi. The girl took a deep breath. "Negi-sensei… I liked you since the day we met. I love you, Negi-sensei."

Negi stared in absolute shock. And in the bushes, so did everyone else.

Nodoka continued bashfully. "I understand something like this is trouble for you, since we're student and teacher and all… but… I just wanted to tell you how I feel." She stepped back. "Excuse me, Negi-sensei!" And at that, she sprinted away into the wilderness.

Negi continued to stare blankly in space, in complete and utter shock over what just happened. Now with the added problem of Nodoka's confession, plus the sheer madness of the events over the past few days, Negi's brain began to figuratively melt. And from that, there was only one thing he could do.

Negi fainted.

"Negi!" Asuna rushed to his side, immediately trying to help him recover. Sora and Cygnus scanned the area in hopes of no one else spying on them during a particularly vulnerable moment. Setsuna however, looked on to where Nodoka had made her escape.

_She has great courage…_ Setsuna thought to herself as the rest of the gang panicked over Negi's condition.

----

Nodoka came to a stop, alone in a forest nearby the temple area. Catching her breath once again, she began to voice her thoughts. "I… I really did it."

She could hear clapping. She turned to see a small figure shrouded in black, smirking at her from under his hood. "I'm impressed. There's more courage in your heart than I thought!" The figured walked toward her as she nervously backed away. "There's nothing to be afraid of, I've come to lend a hand."

"W-why?" Nodoka stuttered. "Who are you?"

"Hehhehhehhehheh," Sonic the Hedgehog laughed again. "Hey, Miss Miyazaki…" He began as he removed his hood. "Do you believe in magic?"

----

Setsuna trekked back to the hotel alone, having made a second sweep around the area after feeling a hostile aura. The source turned out to be a group of Heartless attempting to sneak attack Konoka, but she managed to defeat them before her charge could even catch on. She couldn't quite allow herself to relax. These dark creatures _were_ after Konoka, and for that she couldn't take any chances that the Heartless could try again.

So focused on her thoughts she was that she barely noticed the dark-haired teenage lying casually on the base of a nearby tree. Catching sight of him, she recognized him from their earlier encounter the day before. "Yusuke Urameshi." She bowed respectfully. "We meet again."

He cast an eye in her direction. "You look like a lot's on your mind." He jumped back onto his feet before facing her. "So. The Heartless are after Konoka, aren't they?"

"Yes. And Sora and the dark child showed up just as you said," Setsuna answered.

"Heh, knew the dark boy was coming back. Ever since his mom showed up at Blood's place," Yusuke thought back to the dark-skinned woman he saw before he left for this planet. "But he ain't important right now. I got a feeling that Konoka might need more protection than you or that school of yours can offer."

"Am I not worthy of protecting Konoka-ojou-sama!" Setsuna bristled at the comment.

"Hey, don't take it that way," Yusuke was feeling way too lazy for a fight, not to mention he wasn't really trying to upset her. "As a matter of fact, we could use your help, too."

"My help?" Setsuna calmed down.

"The Heartless are devious bastards; they're gettin' smarter and more ruthless to boot," Yusuke answered. "You could hole up at Blood's place with Konoka and I'm positive that the Heartless won't be able to touch her… or you."

Setsuna had to think about that. It was a tempting offer to say the least… Yusuke was certainly helpful, but… "I need to think about that."

"I ain't in a rush," Yusuke shrugged. "Just think about it. I'll see ya later." He gave a casual wave before walking off.

Setsuna stood there for a moment, his offer still ringing in her head. She wasn't truly attached to this land, or to that many people, but if Konoka-ojou-sama didn't want to leave…

She decided to save that train of thought for a later time. Setsuna quickened her pace to a mild jog and headed back towards the hotel.

----

"Hey Negi, you alright?" Sora crouched down slightly, so his eyes were even with Negi's. It was later in the evening, and everyone had returned to the hotel to charge up for tomorrow. Minus Asuna's fretful concern over the boy (which was covered by a thick façade of "I don't care, he's just a brat."), only Sora regularly visited him. Asuna and Donald were out on patrol to watch for Heartless, and Goofy and Cygnus were… somewhere. "You seem pretty dazed."

"A-a-a-ah…" Negi continued to stare, but once he recognized Sora in front of him, he quickly shook this off. "Oh! Sora-san! I'm okay… it's just that…" Negi wasn't sure if Sora needed to know about someone's confession to him, unaware that the boy already knew from him spying from the bushes. "I don't think I should talk about it. Not here."

"You can talk about it when we go patrolling outside," Sora offered along with a cheesy smile. "I know a lot is on your mind."

"Thanks, Sora-san." Negi smiled softly.

"Oi! Sora!" Cygnus and Goofy came down the stairs. Cygnus swaggered towards the taller boy. "You haven't seen the Sakurazaki woman around, have you? She didn't come back with us when we got back here."

"What's with the concern over Setsuna anyway?" Sora eyed the dark kid suspiciously. "For the last time, she's not a spy!"

"It's not that!" Cygnus retorted. "She thinks I'm bad news for Konoka, yet she treats her supposed old friend like the plague! She's a hypocrite, that's what." Unbeknownst to him, the girl in question had walked in and stood behind the angry boy. Sora tried to point this out, but Cygnus was too busy ranting. "And another thing…!" Finally seeing Sora's pointing finger, Cygnus stopped. In a deadpan voice, he asked, "She's right behind me, isn't she." Sora nodded. He turned to Setsuna, who was not amused at being the subject of an angry rant. Cygnus politely cleared his throat and said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I must come to the reasoning of why I hate my life." And with a speed that would've made Sonic proud, Cygnus darted out of the room before anyone could think of retaliating.

"He's different," Setsuna muttered before turning to Sora. "I saw Asuna and Donald on the way back. It's almost your turn to do the patrol."

"Okay," Sora nodded.

"I'll go too, ahyuck." Goofy added.

"Me too…" Negi said. "I have this weird feeling that it isn't a good idea for me to be here right now."

----

How right he was. There was a devious scheme afoot, and although there was no evil involved, Negi staying behind could blend in some disastrous results. Two people, however, had different plans for this change in events.

"Tch, how insensitive!" Sonic remarked as he sat outside Nodoka's window. The girl tried to hide her nervous feelings with almost no success. "You make a confession and everybody's trying to steal him from you. Heh, strangely enough, this makes things a little easier."

"E-easier? How?" Nodoka asked.

"From what I've learned, Negi's leaving right now and won't be back until this game the girls set up is nearly over," Sonic explained. "You'll have to deal with the fake that he left using that shikigami magic. But once he comes back all you need to do is wait at the foyer and he's as good as yours! Considering the stress the poor boy's been through, I think it might be best if you wait for a better time to tell him you know about his magic." Sonic stood up and faded out of sight as he saw Nodoka's friend Yue appear.

The shorter, blue-haired girl immediately said, "Nodoka, they're calling our group. Let's go."

Nodoka shivered. Competition wasn't her strong suit. "Y-Yue… this is just a game after all…" She tried to placate her friend's quiet fervor.

"No." Yue answered simply. She turned to Nodoka with a soft smile. "Negi-sensei is one of the most honest people I know. You've chosen the right boy. We're going to win and get you a kiss, Nodoka!" She pumped her fist.

"Y-yes!" Nodoka answered, leaving the room with Yue. She looked back at the empty window, seeing Sonic just long enough from him to give her a thumbs-up and disappear into the night.

----

Negi, Sora, and Goofy wandered outside. The clear night and cool air did little to placate their weary nerves though, as the presence of Heartless was easily felt.

Sora twirled his Keyblade, ready to strike at a moments notice. "Asuna said there was Heartless out here," He nearly growled. "We need to be careful."

"You think they were summoned by the monkey woman?" Negi asked.

"Not sure," Sora answered.

"Over there!" Goofy yelled, pointing towards the woods. There stood a large group of Heartless, most of them Shadows and Neoshadows. A few seemed to be more refined versions of the Powerwild Heartless they encountered yesterday. Two Shadows scampered to the front and leapt to attack.

"Let's do this!" Sora bellowed, meeting the Shadow in midair and smashing it apart with a Keyblade combo. Goofy followed up by crashing into several Heartless with his shield.

Negi stepped forward. "Saggita Magica Seris Lucis!" Seventeen arrows of light smashed through a group of Heartless, destroying them instantly. Unfortunately the Heartless began to swarm the three of them. "We're surrounded! I can't use my magic if they're this close!"

Sora gritted his teeth. This wasn't going to be easy. Even as the Heartless launched into attack, Sora was thinking, trying to get help, a power boost, anything… But despite their best efforts, the Heartless were too much. Their flurry of attacks felt like drowning in a sea of black. "No… it won't end this way!"

As if on autopilot, Sora leapt into the air and let out a scream, which activated a burst of energy that knocked the Heartless back. He landed back down, his baggy pants and shirt no longer black but now a vibrant red color. Goofy disappeared, and at this a second Keyblade appeared in Sora's hands. The closest Heartless, a Neoshadow, perished under a flurry of quick strikes.

The other Heartless didn't even stand a chance.

With Sora now keeping the Heartless down with ease, Negi was free to cast his Saggita Magica once more. The powerful flurry of light arrows sliced through Heartless just as easily as Sora's newfound power. After about five minutes of the two of them royally kicking Heartless butt, the creatures were no more, and they stopped. With nothing more to fight, Sora's clothes faded back to black, and Goofy reappeared, a nonplussed look on his face.

Negi turned to Sora, a large smile on his face. "Wow that was awesome!"

"Hehheh," Sora bashfully rubbed his neck. "To tell you the truth, I have no idea how I just did that."

"Huh?" Goofy was still confused.

"Heh," Negi's face fell. "I'm not as strong or as smart as you… and considering all that happened today, I don't know if I'm strong enough to keep going."

"Hey, don't feel so down!" Sora tried to cheer him up. "I couldn't have beaten those Heartless without your help."

"That's right!" Goofy added. He then sank back to his confused state, scratching his head. "Though I don't know where I was…"

"Thank you," Negi said. "I guess things have been getting complicated… with Konoka, that monkey woman, the Heartless, one of my students confessing to me…"

"Umm… Asuna told me about that," Sora added quickly.

"S-she did!" Negi asked, his eyes widening in surprise. "B-but if that gets out I might get fired from my teaching position!"

"Don't worry, I have a feeling everything will go fine," Sora smiled. "That girl knew you couldn't answer her and she was okay with that. She admires you… so why don't you settle things with friendship?"

Negi nodded furiously. "Thank you Sora-san!" He looked around. "It doesn't look like the Heartless are coming back. Let's go back inside."

----

And as the three heroes arrived back at the hotel foyer, it looked like a madhouse. There were several girls squatting further back, there was a mess of towels and pillows everywhere, and the entire place was still screaming of activity. "What's going on here?" Sora asked with a raised eyebrow.

Negi noticed from one side that Nodoka was approaching him, with Yue not far behind. "Miyazaki-san!"

"Ne… Negi-sensei…" Nodoka whispered.

"Um… about this afternoon…"

"No, we don't have to talk about that!"

"I… I'm sorry Miyazaki-san." Negi bowed. "To like someone… I still don't understand. I mean, I like you but… as a student, as a student!" He hastily corrected. "Just as I like all my students. I can't give you a proper answer but… how about we start off as friends?"

Nodoka stood silently for a second, then smiled. "Okay!"

After an awkward silence, Negi spoke up again. "L-let's get back."

"Yes!" Nodoka agreed and began to walk towards Negi.

This is the exact moment Yue and Sonic saw golden opportunity. Almost as if they had coordinated this from the beginning, Yue stuck her foot out and tripped Nodoka. Sonic pulled a fast one and managed to trip Negi as well before anyone even registered that they saw him.

Both Negi and Nodoka fell into each other, their lips colliding.

"Awah! I'm sorry!" Nodoka blushed heavily.

"I'm sorry too!" Negi backed away nervously.

Sora thought something about that accident was odd. His suspicions were confirmed when he heard a voice yell "GOOOOAAAALLL!" right outside the window. He turned to see Sonic pump a fist in victory.

"Huh? Sonic?"

Sonic realized just a moment too late Sora saw him. "Wha? Oh, oh SHIT." He sped out of sight, and Sora groaned. That hedgehog has some explaining to do.

(Heh,a new chapter at last. Writing Sonic in this episode was a hoot. I hope to get episodes out faster.

NEXT TIME: Negi, Sora, and Asuna finally pave a secret mission to get to Kansai headquarters, but it looks like the bad guys are on intercept mode! And Cygnus finds out he's not the only one with feelings for Konoka!

Note: Honya is Japanese for "bookshop", hence Nodoka's obsession with books and her nickname being Honya-chan. )


	7. Episode 6: The Kansai Conundrum

**Kingdom Hearts: Sin Angel**

**Episode 6: The Kansai Conundrum**

"Oh wow, it's so cool!" Konoka marveled at the strange card Nodoka held in her hands. It had a picture of Nodoka flipping the pages of a levitating book, with several others circling around her head. "So you do get a card when you kiss Negi-kun! I knew I should've participated!"

"Konoka-san…" Yue gently reprimanded.

"Ah, you're right Yue. Nodoka confessed to Negi-kun, so I guess I'll have to deal with it…" Konoka trailed off, tears of joy streaming down her face. She apparently enjoyed collectible items.

But unknown to the girls other than Nodoka, that was in fact, a pactio card. And it turns out that Asuna and Cygnus were none too happy about this revelation. "How are you going to take responsibilities for all those cards you made last night?" Asuna said, holding a copy of Nodoka's card as well as several weak-looking cards from other girls in their class.

"What?.! ME?.!" Negi nearly screeched, having not been around last night except for his kiss with Nodoka. The aforementioned girl had wandered over to their corner and hidden out of sight, listened in on their conversation.

"I don't think it's his fault," Sora added to his defense, frowning. "We were gone while the girls were doing their silly 'Love-Love Operation' game, and he didn't kiss Nodoka of his own will. Sonic conned him into doing that."

"Sonic?.!" Cygnus interjected. "It's this ermine's fault!" He pointed furiously at Kamo. "He set up a pactio circle all around the hotel! It took me FIVE HOURS to get rid of it! And seeing how those cards are still there," He glanced at the cards Asuna was holding, causing the girl to blanch a bit. "I obviously took too long."

"But it was a brilliant plan!" Kamo tried to defend himself. "The girls were all plotting to play a game to kiss big bro on the lips! If some of them did it'd mean more pactios which would help us fight the Heart—"

"SHUT UP." Cygnus snapped.

"Fightin' Heartless is a dirty business, we can't let someone innocent like Miss Nodoka into this, ahyuck!" Goofy added.

"Umm… Goofy is right," Asuna added. "We can't give away any more of these cards. It'll get tougher for you to keep magic a secret, Negi."

"You're just a normal girl too, Asuna," Negi pointed out.

Asuna blinked. "How could you say that, after all we've been through? I helped you fight Evangeline when she went evil on us!"

"Evangeline? Who's that?" Sora asked.

"Ahh no one we need to worry about at the moment," Negi nervously added. He then calmed down. "But I guess Asuna-san's right. We need to keep this a secret from Nodoka-san."

"Such a waste, and her card would be so strong, too." Kamo muttered.

"Never mind that," Sora said. He turned to Negi. "The groups are all under free time, right?"

"Yeah, today's the best day I can deliver that letter," Negi answered. "I can sneak out of here with you and Asuna-san."

And so they continued their discussion, unaware that Nodoka had listened in on half of it. She turned away, only to come face to face with Sonic, a small grin on his face. "So that's the story, eh?"

She gasped a bit before recognizing the blue hedgehog again. "You again!" She turned back to the group, a wistful look in her eyes. "I want to help them, but…"

"No worries!" Sonic grinned. "You've got some new powers on your side, plus the courage in your heart. That card of yours is your pactio with Negi. You can summon its power by saying 'Adeat'!"

Nodoka looked at her card for a moment. Regarding her face for a moment, she quietly called out, "Adeat." With a bright flash and a wind strong enough to lift her skirt for a moment, the card disappeared, replaced by a thick brown book. "Ah… it turned into a book!" She saw the title, _Diarium Ejus_, written in bold yellow letters on the front. "Amazing," She whispered.

"Not bad," Sonic regarded the book as well. "What does it say?"

She flipped open the book, happy to feel that familiar sensation of turning pages once more. However, that gave way to confusion when she noticed something unusual. "The pages… they're empty…" She stared blankly for a moment, at a loss on what to do. That changed quickly as words began to appear, fading onto the empty pages. Nodoka gasped as she recognized a picture of her and Negi's kiss last night!

Furthermore, there were words, too… _I kissed my beloved Negi-sensei yesterday, kya! It was only by accident. One day I hope for us to kiss in a romantic way._ Nodoka simpered as she realized these were her current thoughts. "What is this book, Sonic?" She asked in a quiet, quivering voice.

Sonic took a precursory glance at the pages. Sure enough, he saw the words Nodoka did, but a tinge of magical energy alerted that the book wasn't done yet. "Flip the page!" Sonic instructed, and Nodoka did so. Forming on the pages was a picture of Sonic smiling with Nodoka and examining her book. Of course, what were more disturbing were the words that followed: _What does her book do? What if the other guys from Sin Angel find this book? This is awesome! I wonder what would Vexen think? Dude, this day is going by so slowslowslow I want to kick some ass NOW…_ there were several more words after that but they were lost in the shock of Nodoka realizing she was reading Sonic's mind.

_This book… is a very bad book, _Nodoka shivered and Sonic continued to stare in open mouthed shock.

Sonic, noticing Yue and Haruna coming around the corner, disappeared, leaving Nodoka with a mess of thoughts. "Nodoka!" Haruna called out, waving an arm excitedly. "Come on! Let's get ready!"

----

Sneaking across the foyer and out of sight from his students, Negi quietly made his way outside. If he could get away quietly, he could make his way to Kansai headquarters with little to no problems. Kamo sat on his shoulder, keeping a tight grip as the boy hurried along.

"Escape via the back exit successful!" He crowed. "Now I can hurry and get to the main temple of Kansai!"

"Is it going to be that easy?" Kamo asked. "I bet the Heartless are waiting for us!"

"Well Asuna-san and Sora-san were supposed to meet me here but…"

"Oh Negi-sensei!" A singsong voice called out.

Negi turned to see Group Five catching up to him, lead by Haruna. Nodoka, Yue, Konoka, and Setsuna were there as well. The otherworldly heroes Sora, Cygnus, Donald and Goofy were behind them.

All the girls had changed into casual clothes, which Negi promptly noticed. "Wow, such cute clothes!" He marveled. However, this was only a façade to hide his panic as he hissed to Asuna, "Why are all the others with you?"

Asuna jerked her head towards Sora and Cygnus, who both hung their heads in defeat. "We screwed up," They both chorused. "The girls saw us leaving."

"Hey Negi-kun! Let's take a look around together!" Konoka cheered.

As the girls rallied on for adventure, Negi continued to inwardly panic. Sora, however, saw this and whispered in his ear, "We're sorry! We'll lose them halfway somewhere!"

Negi nodded. This might not be too easy…

----

As luck would have it, the girls found an arcade.

"Negi-kun! Asuna! Cygnus-kun!" Konoka called out from nearby the gaming machines, waving excitedly. "Come over here and play with us!"

"They come all the way out here just to play some arcades?" Cygnus remarked, raising an eyebrow. He dropped this skeptical look when he noticed another arcade version of Super Smash Bros. Melee not too far away from the girls. "OOOO, SMASH BROTHERS WHOO HOO!" He wasted no time in hopping on the machine and wasting quarters.

Sora laughed for a moment before an idea popped into his head. He leaned towards Negi and said, "This is our chance! We play a bit and then we leave while they're distracted!" Both Negi and Asuna nodded in agreement.

Sora and Asuna gravitated towards the machines in the exit. The older Keyblade Master challenged Cygnus while Asuna took to playing a solo game. Negi of course, followed Sora. "Can I play?" He asked.

"Sure," Sora smiled.

Cygnus tilted his head out. "The more the merrier. But don't expect any mercy. I know how child geniuses are," He chuckled maniacally.

The game began. Cygnus took his usual pick of Roy, Sora took to Link, and Negi decided to randomly pick Ness. Negi surprised both older boys by being quite lethal for his first time playing. He KO'ed both of them within two minutes. "Whoa. Not bad," Cygnus marveled. "But let's get serious."

A boyish figure walked over to the last slot. His long hair was tied back in a ponytail, and he wore a leather jacket and dark pants. "Mind if I join in?" He asked coolly.

"Okay," Negi answered.

After the original round was over, the new boy joined in, deciding to pick Ganondorf. His expertise in the game rivaled Cygnus's; Negi lost almost immediately after the boy and Cygnus had ganged up on him. Negi sighed in frustration as the announcer blasted, "Player three, defeated."

"Aww, I lost!" Negi grumbled.

"Not bad for your first playtime," Cygnus shrugged when the game was over.

The new kid grinned. "I agree. You're not bad. But you've got a long way to go, Negi Springfield." He gave a small wave before walking off. "See ya around."

"W-what! How do you know my name?" Negi sputtered in surprise.

"You entered it in the machine yourself," He turned to Sora and Cygnus. "Heh, nice game, Sora, Cygnus. Later," And with that, he left.

Cygnus scratched his chin, observing the boy with a leer. "There's something strange about that boy."

Sora looked to see Haruna, Yue, and Konoka thoroughly distracted by a card game. "Maybe… But now's our opportunity to split!" Sora called out to the others. "Asuna! Donald! Goofy! Setsuna!"

The seven of them gathered close to each other. "Okay, Sakurazaki-san, we're leaving Konoka to you," Negi said.

"Okay," Setsuna nodded. "Please be careful, all of you."

"Tch, I'm staying here," Cygnus folded his arms. Sora glared at him, but figured there was little he could do about it.

"I'm going!" Donald insisted. "Goofy, stay here and keep an eye on Cygnus and Setsuna!"

"Gotcha!" Goofy grinned and gave a thumbs-up.

"Our troops are mobilized!" Kamo cheered. "Let's go!"

And with that, Sora, Donald, Asuna, and Negi left the arcade and made their way towards Kansai in full sprint.

Nodoka, who had hung towards the back during the entire time, peeked out of her hiding place as she saw them leave. "Where are they going?" She asked herself. Although Sonic wasn't around to guide her this time, she figured if she was going to help Negi and Asuna, now would be the best time. She waited for them to gain some distance before following them.

----

The dark-haired boy took a sharp turn down the alley and came to a stop in front of four other people. "Heh, as I thought, he's the Springfield kid. The Keyblade chump is with him."

"So it's true," the woman smirked. "The legendary son of the Thousand Master and the Keyblade Masters. We truly have worthy opponents."

"You'll have to play your cards right, Ms. Amagsaki," Slade said, his one eye leering at her. "Otherwise it could get difficult for all of us."

"Of course it could," The mysterious hooded man stepped forward, catching the attention of all the rest. "But I have a feeling that this will go smoothly," He unhooded himself, revealing a man with lopsided silver hair. Zexion smiled. "You should probably stall Sora and the Springfield child. Leave the rest to me."

Chigiusa Amagsaki smiled and clenched her fist. "I'm gonna pay you back for last time, you little brats!"

----

The train charged towards its destination as its lone passengers sat and talked with each other. "I'm sorry for making you come along, Asuna-san," Negi answered. "Sora-san, you too."

"No worries!" Sora smiled a cheesy smile. "I always help out friends in need."

"What are you talking about?" Asuna raised an eyebrow. "Would any sane person let a ten-year-old boy go out on a dangerous mission by himself?" When Negi simply chuckled lightly, she continued. "It's just that… people who try their best at everything… I don't hate them, whether they're brats or not! You got a problem with that?"

Negi smiled and shook his head.

"Let's show these Kansai goons who they're messing with!" Donald bellowed with his strong lisp.

----

"Wow… it's huge…" Sora remarked as they stood at the Thousand Gates, the gateway towards the Kansai Mansion.

"This must be the Kansai Magic Association's Headquarters," Negi said. "All we need to do is hand this letter over to their leader. But I have a feeling that the Heartless are expecting us here."

"Well, let's not disappoint!" Asuna said, pulling out her pactio card. "Adeat!" Her harisen was in her hands once again, and as soon as the others pulled out their weapons, the Heartless appeared.

Among the familiar monkey-like Powerwilds, their improved cousins (known as Powerwild IIs) and the diminutive Shadows were a new breed of Heartless, decked in long elaborate white robes and baggy pants, much like a Shinto priest's robes. However, the Powerwilds attacked first.

Sora and Donald quickly dispatched the monkey Heartless with powerful strikes of the Keyblade and Thunder magic. However, the new Ying-Yang Heartless used a flurry of charms to unleash their own magic, making it difficult for Asuna to attack.

"Ras tel ma scir magister… Saggita Magica Septendecium Fulguralis!" Negi shouted, unleashing seventeen arrows of lightning and smashing the Ying-Yang Heartless to oblivion.

Just as it grew silent again, another crowd of Heartless appeared.

"Aww, not more!" Negi snarled in frustration.

Luckily someone heard his complaint, as a whirling ninja axe sliced down the Heartless with ease. "Hey guys," Sonic gave his usual smile as he dropped down next to Sora. "How's it going?"

"Sonic?" Sora blinked. He stepped towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"Lending a helping hand, of course," Sonic grinned. "It's part of my contract as a member of the Sin Angel!"

"Sin Angel?" Negi asked. "What is the Sin Angel?"

Sonic shrugged. "Not really sure. I know we act as the most powerful group of mercenaries in the universe. I was chosen to make sure the other guys don't pull any tricks." The blue hedgehog pointed towards the gate. "Anyway, you guys are trying to get past these gates to the mansion, right? It should be up ahead."

"Okay then, let's go!" Negi cheered as he followed the blue hedgehog into the Thousand Gates. The rest of the group followed wearily behind.

"Can we trust him?" Asuna whispered to Sora.

"I'd say yes," Sora answered just a bit uneasily. "I don't think he'd intentionally get us in trouble."

They trekked onward, crushing Heartless along the way. Sonic, in his restless fervor, patrolled not just in front of the group but around them as well, knocking off any would-be sneak-attackers. However, after roughly thirty minutes of walking and Heartless bashing, they stopped.

"We've been at this for thirty minutes, now!" Asuna said, huffing and puffing. "What's going on?"

"Tch, I don't remember this being a marathon!" Sonic raised his eyebrow, not the least bit tired. "I'll scout ahead and see how far we got." And with that he dashed off…

…only to appear seconds later right behind everybody. "Say what!" Sonic exclaimed. He immediately split back the way he came, only to once again arrive right back where the started.

"Try going into the forest!" Negi suggested, a touch of panic in his voice.

Sonic dashed off into one side of the forest, but only appeared on the other. "DAAHHH!" In a last ditch effort, he ran up a nearby tree and launched himself up into the air, only to find himself magically transported back to the ground. "What is this! It's like… like an _infinite time-space-loop-thingy_!"

"_Infinite time-space-loop-thingy_?.!" The rest of the group exclaimed.

"Yes! An infinite time-space-loop-thingy has got us trapped in the thousand gates!" Sonic exclaimed. "Those Kansai clowns probably did it!"

"How can they make an infinite time-space-loop… whatever it is?" Sora implored.

"How did we not see that we walked right into an infinite time-space-loop-thingy?" Negi cried.

"HOW MANY TIMES ARE WE GOING TO SAY INFINITE TIME-SPACE-LOOP-THINGY?.!" Donald quacked at the top of his lungs.

As the gang panicked and complained, the Kansai members watched from the treetops in amusement. "They fell into our trap perfectly. Guess they're a bunch of brats after all." Chigiusa smirked. "All you need to do is keep an eye on them."

"Bleh, that's so boring!" The dark-haired boy complained, resting atop a tree branch. "I like face-to-face battles better!"

"You just do as you're told, okay?" The woman hopped off the branches and disappeared. The boy only huffed before continuing to listen in on the heroes below.

----

Surprisingly not attacked by Heartless, Nodoka wandered towards the Thousand Gates in peace. _Negi-sensei… Asuna-san… where did you and your friends go?_ Stepping up to the entryway, Nodoka was dismayed to find a "No Entry" sign blocking the way. "No entry? I guess I need to look someplace else…"

_Help!_

"Wha? Negi-sensei?" Nodoka twitched. She thought she heard Negi cry for help. Taking a look at her book again, she could see it was glowing. She opened the book to see a picture of Negi and the others panicking and running around in circles. "This must be Negi-sensei's thoughts! And Sonic-san's here too! Oh… oh no!"

----

"Hey guys, I like running, but dude, this is a waste of time!" Sonic shouted.

Everyone came to a stop, pausing to catch their breath. "But what are we gonna do?" Sora asked.

"We should take a break here and plan something out," Negi answered. Seeing as here was a rest stop, the group sat down on some benches, with the exception of Sonic, who stood on top of one instead.

"What's their deal?" Asuna complained. "Why is Kansai trying so desperately to keep us from handing in a single letter?"

"I don't think that woman that attacked you guys truly represents Kansai," Sonic said. When everyone else turned to him with puzzled expressions, he continued. "If she did, she wouldn't be so desperate to stop you. I could be wrong, but I've got a hunch on it."

"So this woman's trying to stop us because her boss will find out what she's up to if we deliver the letter?" Sora repeated.

"I guess that makes sense," Negi said. "But that doesn't help us with our current situation."

"The loop's gotta be maintained by someone or something! Let's go find 'im!" Donald suggested.

"Easier said than done, we don't know how strong this person or thing could be," Sora said back to Donald.

"But you're pretty strong, Sora!" Negi said, smiling at him. "You wield the Keyblade, and I haven't seen anyone defeat Heartless better!"

"Hey!" Asuna objected. "I'm strong against the Heartless too!"

"Tch, like the Heartless have been any problem so far," Sonic grinned. "If they can't touch us, there's no way any clown from Kansai can!"

The dark-haired youth, who had been listening in on the conversation, decided that his "prisoners" were far more interesting than he imagined. Since he was bored, he decided to see if all their bragging was actually true. "Hehehehe… I can't let that comment go!" Taking a few charms crafted by that Slade guy his employer was working with, he jumped up and slammed down on the ground in front of the group.

At once, three monstrous centipede-like creatures emerged out of the ground. Their large prong-like fangs snapped viciously as three triplets of three eyes stared down the group. "You should try me on for size before you go mouthing off like that!"

While most of the heroes stared in open-mouthed shock, Sonic simply stepped forward, confident as usual. "A new challenge! Whoo-hoo! Bring it on!"

The kid smirked. "Hey Gastroc! Go play with the hedgehog!"

The monstrous worm-dragons answered by snapping their jaws at Sonic, forcing the hedgehog to dodge their attacks and head away from the rest of the group. "Hey, that's cheating!" They heard Sonic yell as he frantically tried to dodge the Gastroc attack.

As soon as he disappeared into the distance, the other four turned back to the newcomer. "…no way! You're that kid from the game center!" Sora exclaimed.

"That's right! You talk all that crap about being able to fight, so let me show you how it's done!" The kid sneered, making his hand into a fist.

"Negi!" Asuna cried, preparing her fan.

"Right!" Negi answered as he, Donald, and Sora prepared their weapons.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're a brat!" Asuna cried as she lunged.

"Sorry, woman, but you're not the one I want to fight," The kid dodged her with ease, instead launching a direct attack on Negi. A flying kick sent the red-haired boy tumbling into the ground.

"You're gonna pay for that!" Donald screeched, unleashing a blast of ice towards the boy. He dodged, planting a roundhouse kick that sent Donald sprawling into Asuna and both of them tumbling into the woods.

This left only Sora and Negi. Sora lunged towards the boy unleashing a powerful combo, but the boy was too nimble; he dodged every hit. Sora nearly gasped in surprise when the youth bounced right past him and aimed towards Negi once again.

Negi tensed before aiming a spell. "Flans… Exarmatio!" A blast of wind shot towards the boy, shredding all the charms he was holding.

But that didn't matter, because all the boy wanted was to give Negi a knuckle sandwich, and he did.

As Negi bounced painfully along the floor, Sora whipped his Keyblade around and charged the boy, now noticing his hat was off and he had… dog ears? "You're not an ordinary kid, are you? No wonder you're so fast!" Sora brought his weapon down, but the boy grabbed it. Sora strained to let go. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kotarou Inugami," the boy bellowed. "A dog demon, hired to mess around with you punks by Kansai! What of it? Your big key ain't nothin' special!" He chucked the Keyblade, and Sora along with it, across the ground. Sora recovered however and skidded to a stop.

"Really?" Sora crossed the gap between him and the boy in an instant, and his Keyblade slammed into Kotarou's gut, sending him skyward. "You just got lucky last time! I've taken down worse people than you!"

Kotarou recovered in midair and landed on his feet. "Hmmm… not bad," The boy smirked. He launched himself into Sora, forcing the boy to dodge frantically as he launched several rapid punches. "But your little buddy is still a wuss!" Kotarou hopped on top of Sora, and, using him as a spring board, launched himself into a still recovering Negi and sent him spiraling with another punch.

"Negi!" Sora cried out

"Ha! That chump calls himself a proper mage! I bet his daddy the Thousand whatever isn't tough either!" Kotarou mocked.

Negi wiped the blood off of his mouth and snarled. Sora looked absolutely furious. "You don't mess with my friends…" Sora snarled and launched a Strike Raid; the keyblade striking the boy's face like a boomerang. He skidded along the ground for a moment before recovering and bounding back for another attack on Sora. Both combatants locked claws and Keyblade into a furious dance that lasted roughly a minute.

"Ras tel ma scir magister…" Negi unlocked his magic and gathered his strength. "Saggita Magica Seris Fulguralis!" Seventeen arrows of lightning all shot towards Kotarou. Sora hopped out of the way at the last second as roughly five of them hit their mark.

Kotarou hissed in pain as Negi stood once more. "Think about that next time you call me a wuss…"

"I'm thinkin' about it…" Kotarou's fingernails grew into claws. "And you're still a wuss!" He lunged towards Negi.

"Cantus Bellax!" Negi shouted. At once his magic energy fortified his physical strength, and he countered Kotarou's lunge with a well-placed punch to his gut. Kotarou crashed into the ground. Negi wasted no time running towards him and landing another powerful kick, but the other boy blocked the attack. Both boys locked into battle, up until Sora appeared out of nowhere and landed a perfect Sonic Blade to Kotarou's side, causing the boy to crash into the ground.

This time he struggled to move. "This is the first time I've taken a beating from humans…" Kotarou clenched his teeth. "You two aren't bad in the least… but," Before their eyes, the boy began to transform. His hair grew out, his claws increased in size… in essence, he became more beast-like. With a wicked, fanged grin he continued. "It's far from over. IT'S TIME FOR THE REAL THING."

"This is about to get extremely ugly," Sora's eye twitched as he and Negi prepared their weapons.

"Let me first show you what darkness is," the new and improved Kotarou cackled as he opened up a dark portal. Black dog spirits emerged from within and lunged at Negi and Sora. The Keyblade Master countered this by stepping in front and twirling his Keyblade, deflecting the spirits with only slight difficulty.

The bad news was that it gave Kotarou perfect opportunity to launch a wicked punch to Sora's stomach, sending him into Negi and both of them several feet away. As the two of them struggled to get up, Kotarou taunted. "Had enough yet? I'm just getting started!" He charged towards them, bouncing around with lightning speed.

I can't see him, he's too fast! Sora clenched his teeth. Is he coming from the right?

"To your left, Sora-san!"

Sora, despite all his shock, let instinct take over as he obeyed the voice, dodging to the left as Kotarou landed his attack where he was just moments ago. As he moved Negi out of harm's way, he looked back to see a familiar face.

"Nodoka?.!" Sora and Negi's mouths hung open in shock.

"H-H-H-Honya-chan?.! Why are you here?.!" Asuna asked. She and Donald had mostly kept out of the fierce battle between the boys, but Nodoka's arrival pulled them out of hiding.

"Well, this book…" Nodoka held her diary, but then noticed Kotarou lunging for another attack. "Ah! Above you, sensei!" She shouted directions to Negi and Sora, helping them dodge Kotarou's lightning fast attacks and counter them perfectly.

"I'm not done with you punks yet!" Kotarou bellowed. He lunged for a last attack…

…and Sonic reappeared right under him, kicking him squarely in the chin. He flipped twice before crashing into the floor. Sonic landed some distance away. "Hey guys, sorry we're late!"

"Sonic?" Sora blinked.

Before he could comment though, he noticed Kotarou recovering, leering at them with canine teeth.

"Let's finish this!" Negi bellowed.

Sora nodded. He and Negi focused their energy together. "Ras tel ma scir magister…" The two boys extended their hands out towards Kotarou. "Fulgratio Albricans!" "Blizzard Wind!" The combined force of a powerful blizzard and a blast of lightning was too much for Kotarou, and the wolf-demon boy went down.

"Oww…" Kotarou mumbled. "This sucks… but you'll never get out of here…" His wolf-like features regressed, leaving only his ears as a sign of his abnormality.

Nodoka had an easy remedy for that. "So Kotarou-kun… is that your name? How do we get out of here?"

"What makes you think I'll just tell you—wha?" He noticed the glowing book in her hands. _There's no way I'll tell them how to escape! They'll get mad at me if they do! There's no way that they'll figure out that the sixth gate from here has three charms that maintain the—wait a minute. That girl was reading my attacks earlier—HUH? C-could it be that book? This is _bad_…_

Nodoka turned to the rest of the group. "I-it looks like all you need to do is destroy the three hidden charms on the sixth gate east of here…"

"WHOA!" Asuna and Kamo exclaimed.

"She's awesome, isn't she?" Sonic grinned. "That's why I helped her out all this time!"

"Wait… she's got that book and a contract with Negi because of YOU?.!" Asuna pointed at the blue hedgehog.

"Yep! That's the jist of it!"

Asuna seethed, but the rest of the heroes wasted no time. Donald sent a barrage of thunderbolts towards the hidden charms and destroyed them. Everyone saw the barrier phase slowly out of existence. "The path's clear! We should get going!" Donald instructed.

"We're finally free!" Sora said. "I hope delivering this letter might calm things down…"

The gang walked past Kotarou, in which Nodoka uttered a small apology.

"Wait a second," Kotarou said, lying on his back. He looked extremely exhausted but otherwise showed no signs of battle scars. He pointed to Sonic. "Hey… aren't you a member of the Sin Angel?"

Sonic turned to acknowledge him. "Yeah. What of it?"

"Why are you helping these clowns… I thought your gang was helping us," Kotarou said.

"Heh, you should know that we as a whole don't discriminate on who we give aid to—wait, you said one of us is helping Kansai!"

"Yeah… you mean you don't know?"

"I thought Vexen was looking for something at Mahora Academy…" Sonic pondered, scratching his chin.

"Wait, so that means there's THREE members of the Sin Angel here?.!" Sora asked.

"Yeah, I guess…" Then another thought hit Sonic. That thought was no good, as Sonic cursed. "Oh shit. I haven't seen the third guy! That means the others are under attack!"

"What?.! Setsuna-san and Konoka-san could be in danger!" Negi exclaimed.

Sonic turned to the others. "I'm going to see if the others are okay! Keep going to Kansai!" He revved up and dashed off back towards the arcade.

After a few moments, Sora sighed. "I hope the others are all right…"

----

"H-H-Heartless?.!" Cygnus clenched his teeth. "They're wrecking the arcade!" Most of these Heartless were of a new breed, dressed in long elaborate white robes and baggy pants—something Setsuna recognized as the Kansai uniform. No doubt this was the enemy's Heartless and not the random ones from yesterday.

Setsuna immediately knew what they were trying to do… drive them out of the arcade, to someplace vulnerable as to allow them to snatch Konoka. "They're trying to lure us out into the open, we need a new place to hide!"

"Dammit, the others!" Cygnus pointed as the Heartless began to surround Haruna, Yue, and Konoka. "We need to get them out of here! Goofy!"

Goofy wasted no time charging the Heartless. However, one countered by throwing a charm, blasting him away with a pillar of fire. "Yeowch!"

Cygnus clenched his teeth. "Not good," he looked at Goofy. "But an idea. Charge again!" Goofy looked at him for a moment but decided to take his advice. However, once he started running again, Cygnus bounced up and placed his hand on Goofy's back. "TAKE THIS!" He and Goofy became one supercharged tackling machine, mowing down the Heartless with ease. Had Sora seen it, it would've reminded him of Ansem's Rockshatter Technique.

"Ojou-sama, Ayase-san and Saotome-san, we must leave the premises immediately." Setsuna grabbed Konoka's hand and led her away, with Haruna and Yue following closely.

"What's going on?.!" Haruna asked, her voice near panic. "Are you on the run from the yakuza or something?"

Setsuna didn't answer. She instead led them outside and through the alleyways. On the edge of her peripheral vision she could note Cygnus and Goofy following them, dealing with the Heartless before they could reach the girls. _They truly are getting ruthless,_ Setsuna thought, remembering Yusuke's words yesterday. _Attacking in broad daylight… doubtless we need someplace to stay protected…_

Up ahead, the group saw a row of buildings, with a wide one at the front. "Isn't this cinema town?" Yue asked. "If you wanted to come here, you could've told us…"

_All right! _Setsuna inwardly cheered. _A place to lay low until Negi and Sora get back. But I can't get these others involved… I trust the dark child will watch over them. She spoke up._ "Um… I-I wish to be alone with ojou-sama! Let's split up here!" She suddenly picked up Konoka. "My apologies, ojou-sama." With incredible strength, Setsuna jumped clear over the walls of Cinema Town, leaving two girls, Goofy, and Cygnus in utter confusion.

As the girls mulled it over, Cygnus took a more vocal approach with Goofy. "I need to follow them." He said. "Can you guard these two?" He pointed to Yue and Haruna.

"Why of course, ahyuck!" Goofy said. "But what are you chasin' Setsuna for?"

"My own reasons," Cygnus shamefully admitted. "That, and I have a feeling they're in more danger than anyone else."

Goofy nodded sagely. "I'm trustin' ya to do what's right."

Cygnus smiled. "Thanks, Goofy," He turned towards the walls of Cinema Town, and using the powers of darkness, propelled himself over the walls as easily as Setsuna did. Goofy just stared for a moment, noticing that the Heartless were gone.

"Maybe he was right?" Goofy said to himself.

----

High upon the rooftops, Terra observed Konoka, Setsuna, and Cygnus as they diffused into the gentle chaos of Cinema Town. She grinned as she spoke into an earpiece. "Zexion… they've been lured into Cinema Town. They're all yours."

----

_This feels… weird,_ Cygnus mused silently as he walked the streets of Cinema Town. It all seemed to mirror a large Japanese movie set, as people milled about in kimonos, samurai costumes and other assorted clothes. _It's almost feels like my planet._ Cygnus continued to scan the crowd for Konoka and Setsuna as he continued to muse internally. _That woman… why is she so secretive? Why is that even bothering me? Maybe it all has to do with Konoka. That girl is a shining example of perfection on this world... But I still don't understand what drives that woman to be so cold to her… But then again, she's cold to everyone._

Setsuna, on the other hand, was merely keeping an eye out for Konoka as she tried to figure out her next step. The Heartless have stopped attacking… the enemy must not want to cause a commotion here, so it's safe for us to lay low here until Negi and the others get back. She looked to her left and noticed Cygnus wandering about in the distance. She was about to call out to him when another voice rang out, "Oh Secchan!"

"Yes? Ojou-sama—" Setsuna turned around, only to catch a shocking surprise. Konoka was in a beautiful kimono, complete with redone hair in a long ponytail and an oriental umbrella. "WHOA!"

"Ta-daa!" Konoka cheered.

"W-why are you in those clothes?.!"

"Didn't you know? They've got a changing room where you can borrow kimonos!" She giggled. "How do I look?"

"Oh! Err… b… beautiful…" Setsuna bowed, her face flushing red.

"YAY! All right!" Konoka twirled happily.

_She really _has_ become beautiful,_ Setsuna thought. _Wait… why am I feeling this way?_

From the other side of the street, Cygnus watched in open-mouthed horror. Suddenly everything about the two of them made perfect sense.

And from what he saw, he had already lost the battle.

"What?.! NOOOOO!" Cygnus screeched to the heavens. Unaware that he had caught everyone's attention, he continued. "WRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYY?.!" Unfortunately for him, the entire crowd nearby crowd surrounded him, Konoka and Setsuna included. Quickly changing tactics, he fell to his knees, forced tears streaming down his face. "I had to place that bet against the king… and now I… I LOST EVERYTHING!" And he made a string of sounds that could only be described as comical sobbing.

So he nearly jumped up in surprise when the audience started clapping, and Konoka approached him. "Cygnus-kun! That was great!" She grabbed his hand, and Setsuna's as well. "But it'd be better if you both were in costume! Come on, I'll pick one for you, Secchan!"

Both of them sputtered in surprise as Konoka dragged them to the changing rooms.

----

"Why do I get men's clothing?" Setsuna asked to nobody in particular. She was outfitted in a samurai costume, her sword Yuunagi tucked at her side.

"Because it suits you. But at least you don't look like a cosplayer," Cygnus answered. He was decked in a dark jacket, white gloves, white pants and boots. With his arms folded, he looked like a spitting image of a younger Ansem.

"Secchan! Cygnus-kun!" Konoka called their attention.

"Yes?" The other two chorused.

"Look! A sweet bun!" Konoka made a face with the aforementioned snack stuffed in her mouth.

"Pffft! Ahahahahaha!" Setsuna and Cygnus failed to keep their laughter in.

Konoka, delighted with this result, walked over to Setsuna. "You finally laughed, Secchan!" Setsuna said nothing, her face slightly red. Still holding the snack, Konoka gently tried to feed the snack to her friend. "Say 'ahhh' for the sweet bun!"

"Ojou-sama!" Setsuna's blush became deeper red.

"Hehhehehehe," The girls turned to a smirking Cygnus, his arms still folded. Seeing as he had their attention, he walked over to them. "I see it now. I know now that I never stood a chance, and I understand why you're so protective of her. I may not be the right person for Konoka but…" He took Konoka and Setsuna's hands, and joined them together. "This looks about right."

Both girls stared at him for a moment. Setsuna flushed beet red, and Konoka smiled. But before they could all sputter away in embarrassment, a flurry of girls showed up in the distance. "How cute! That guy is marrying a bishounen swordsman and his princess!" one shouted.

"Can we take a picture?" Another added.

"Sure!" Konoka grinned, causing Setsuna to flush red once more.

Still in the position of Cygnus holding their hands together, they posed for the camera. Cygnus managed to convince the crowd to take pictures of the lucky couple alone, which had Setsuna protectively hug Konoka while holding her sword. He then posed for a solo picture, putting on a wicked grin that would've made the less sane Ansem proud.

"Maybe they think we're a couple because of Cygnus-kun!" Konoka giggled.

"What are you saying, ojou-sama?.!" Setsuna sputtered. However, she stopped this and thought about it as Konoka asked for pictures from the group of girls.

Meanwhile, the three of them were unaware that Haruna, Yue, and Goofy had watched them for some time. "There was something between those two girls after all," Haruna said as she stroked her chin thoughtfully.

"Looks like friendship to me," Yue added.

"Yeah," Goofy agreed. "But I'm glad Cygnus patched things up between him and Setsuna!" Goofy looked to his left as he saw a horse-drawn carriage appear. "Somebody's comin'!"

"Wha?" Cygnus, Konoka, and Setsuna stepped back as the carriage came to a stop in front of them. From the carriage stepped a man decked in a shogun outfit. His helmet was off, revealing his silver, lopsided hair.

"You're—" Setsuna began.

"That's right," Zexion said, a grin on his face. "I'm the top shogun of this area, and I have returned for my daughter."

"Say what!" Setsuna and Cygnus chorused.

"What are you talking about?" Cygnus nearly shouted, completely nonplussed by the statement.

"It's an act, Cygnus-kun! He's an actor!" She whispered.

From the crowd, Yue whispered to Goofy and Haruna, "Cinema Town has actors that spontaneously involve visitors in their acts."

"So that's what's happenin'," Goofy understood.

Something clicked in Setsuna's mind. This man didn't look too trustworthy, not to mention… _Have the Heartless stopped because of this man? This was probably his plan from the beginning… take Konoka-ojou-sama away while everyone's watching by pretending it's a play!_ She stepped forward and snarled, "No! You are on my territory, as long as she has no desire to go back I will protect ojou-sama!"

Konoka, surprised by Setsuna's acting ability, hugged her. "That was so cool Secchan!"

"D-d-don't do that!" Setsuna protested, her face growing red again.

Cygnus caught on quickly. "If you came to crash the wedding, you're one step too late, I've already married them," Cygnus flashed some phony marriage papers that he wasted ten seconds on to create. Tossing them away, he continued, "And if you think you can force them away," He summoned his Keyblade and crouched into a fighting stance. "You've got another thing coming."

"Is that so?" Zexion showed no signs of emotion. "That leaves me no choice," he pointed his sword at Setsuna and Cygnus. "I challenge the both of you for Miss Konoka. We will meet at the Nipponbashi (Japanese Bridge). If you do not arrive within thirty minutes…" He leaned close towards the challengers, whispering, "You will not escape with your lives, Setsuna and Cygnus."

Both of their eyes widened in shock.

"Farewell," Zexion stepped back on to the carriage, and it trotted away. Setsuna stared after it blankly.

Cygnus swallowed hard. "This doesn't look good, does it?"

"Hey Cygnus! What's going on?" Goofy barged towards him, catching the boy by surprise.

"Goofy, we're in trouble," Cygnus muttered. "That actor… I actually felt his power."

"You need some backup?"

"No… in case we can't you should protect the others," Cygnus whispered.

Haruna and Yue however, turned their attention towards Setsuna. "Wow, you two are close! How long have you been going out for?"

"W-what do you mean?" Setsuna asked, as Konoka practically hid behind her.

"I know that guy is up to no good, we'll help you out!" Haruna pumped her fist. "We'll support your love with all our might!"

"What! Y-you got it all wrong!"

"We need to get moving," Yue pointed out. "We don't have any time to waste."

And so the six strong group headed off towards the bridge, with Setsuna and Haruna arguing the whole way.

----

Sonic came to a stop nearby. In the hustle and madness of Cinema Town, the blue hedgehog was hardly noticed. "Just as I thought. I knew there was a third member of the Sin Angel at work here! The bad guys wouldn't be this coordinated on their own. Perfect plan!" He thought back to what Oni had said to him earlier. "I guess this is what she meant by keeping her other 'children' in check. I guess I should keep to the shadows for now and see how things play out." He revved up before dashing further into Cinema Town.

----

The atmosphere around the bridge had grown tense and silent by the time the six of them had arrived. Cygnus, Goofy, Haruna, Yue, Setsuna, and Konoka stood side by side as they approached their destination. There was a crowd nearby as word of the duel had spread throughout Cinema Town.

Standing atop the bridge was Zexion, still in his shogun garb. As Setsuna and Cygnus stepped forward, he spoke, "I'm impressed you caught onto my act before I whispered your names," Zexion announced to the two warriors. "But this battle will be no act."

"What're you trying to do!" Cygnus shot out.

He pointed a finger at Konoka. "My aim is to show Miss Konoka that there is more to this world than what first appears." He pulled out two authentic swords.

"S… Secchan? That guy is kinda scary…" Konoka whispered. "Be careful…"

Setsuna simply answered. "Don't worry, Konoka-ojou-sama… No matter what happens," She turned back to smile at Konoka. "I'll protect you!"

"Secchan…" Konoka smiled.

"I'll protect you, too!" Cygnus boasted. "Also considering I just made your marriage license…" He rubbed a finger under his nose as a cocky gesture before Setsuna smacked him lightly.

"Get a grip, we're about to fight!" Setsuna commanded.

"Oh, oh right," Cygnus summoned his Keyblade and got into a fighting stance. He turned slightly towards Goofy. "This could get hectic. Get Konoka somewhere safe and push these other two back into the crowd!" He whispered.

"Right!" Goofy nodded. He turned to the other three girls. "Excuse me ladies, head back this way! I need to take Miss Konoka somewhere safe!"

"I'll leave it up to you, Goofy!" Cygnus shouted. "Be careful!"

"Secchan!" Konoka began to shout as the crowd saw Zexion leap into action.

That unfortunately fell on deaf ears as Cygnus and Setsuna rushed to counter Zexion's twin blades. A loud clash was heard as the three locked blades. Zexion pushed back and focused a whirling combo on Setsuna, who parried the blows with ease. Cygnus tried to strike down the silver-haired man, but his attack was deflected at the last second. Zexion then rushed towards Cygnus, slicing down where the boy stood just moments before.

"Not bad for such children," Zexion commented, no emotion showing through his face.

"I take my job seriously," Setsuna growled as she slashed at him several times. Zexion dodged the attacks and swept with a wide arc, forcing Setsuna back.

"Perhaps too seriously?" Zexion asked as he lunged for her again.

"That's my line," Cygnus snarled as he chucked his Keyblade in an imitation of Sora's Strike Raid. The move knocked Zexion slightly off balance, just enough for Setsuna to land in a kick to his chest. As Zexion stumbled backwards, Cygnus leapfrogged Setsuna and slashed down on the man, knocking him further away. Setsuna imitiated Cygnus's attack, and both of them repeated the attack a few times more before Cygnus finished up by swinging Setsuna around and upwards to smash Zexion into the air. However Zexion countered in midair with a wide sweep and knocked both warriors into the ground.

As the three of them continued to fight, Goofy led Konoka away from the battle scene. "Are you okay, Miss Konoka?" Goofy asked as they rounded a corner.

"Yes," she nodded.

However, a pack of Ying-Yang Heartless appeared before them. A determined Goofy wasted no time in pulling out his shield and spinning like a tornado through the masses of Heartless, destroying them instantly. "In here!" Goofy directed towards a building. The two of them entered and scampered up the stairs. "Gawrsh, these steps are kind of long…"

"Goofy-san, perhaps this building is…" Konoka began, but it looked like they reached a hiding place at last. "Ah, a room!" They entered it…

…only to see it was already occupied.

"Welcome, Konoka-ojou-sama," Chigiusa Amagsaki sneered. "It seems that Terra-han and the Sin Angel representative were able to track you down after all. Oh?" She noticed Goofy. "Protection must be hard to come by these days, huh?"

A shape formed behind her. It resembled the Invisible Heartless but this creature had horns and a mane of hair. It aimed a crossbow at the two of them. "You can't attack us and defend dear Konoka at the same time, so just stay put or it'll get worse for the both of you." Chigiusa smiled.

----

Still fighting Zexion, Setsuna and Cygnus pressed a harder offense, but to no avail. "Can't find an opening…" Setsuna clenched her teeth as she narrowly avoided another swipe from the silver-haired man.

The crowd noticed something going on in the rooftops. "What's that?" Someone asked from the crowd.

"Wait, isn't that Konoka?" Yue blinked.

"Oh no, the princess is in danger!" Another random crowd member shouted.

"It's a monster on the rooftops!"

"Is that CG?"

"Wouldn't CG need a hologram of some sort to work?"

"Maybe it's stop motion graphics!"

"This is not a T.V show!"

"I hope that dog guardian does okay!"

"Ojou-sama!" Setsuna exclaimed.

"What?.!" Cygnus looked up to see the situation. "SHIT."

"Pay attention," Zexion taunted, smashing both of them in the stomach with the dull end of his sword. Both crashed into the ground. From their lying positions they looked up to the castle once more.

Seeing as they were looking in her direction, Chigiusa spoke. "Sakurazaki Setsuna, guard of Konoe Konoka! Can you hear me?" She boomed. "You can see that this Heartless has these two within its sights! Don't interfere if you value ojou-sama's life!"

"Goofy-san… this is CG, isn't it? They're making a movie?" Konoka whispered

Goofy kept his eyes on the Heartless, gripping his shield tightly. "Don't worry, I'm gonna keep you safe," he whispered to Konoka.

Sensing Goofy's distress, Konoka answered, "It's okay… Secchan said she's protect me no matter what… she'd definitely come save us!"

"What are you muttering about? Don't waste my time!" Chigiusa demanded.

Goofy took a step forward…

…and his foot sank in a hole in a roof, causing him to tumble inside. "YAAAAAAHOHOHOHOHOOOOOEY!"

This in turn caused the Heartless to react and fire its arrow. "W-WHAT DID YOU SHOOT FOR?.!" Chigiusa yelled at it.

(Because he moved! You're supposed to complement me! I followed directions!) It responded.

Seeing the Heartless fire the arrow set off all sorts of alarms in Setsuna and Cygnus's heads. But Cygnus reacted first. "NO!" He whipped his Keyblade forward on Zexion, forcing him to block. This in turn, gave Setsuna time to disappear away from the bridge.

With nothing between her and the arrow, Konoka only stared at the incoming rush off death, her eyes wide with fear.

Setsuna dashed in front of her at the last second.

The arrow pierced her upper chest, never reaching Konoka at all.

"Setsuna! NO!" Cygnus screeched.

To make matters worse, Setsuna teetered off the edge of the building, unable to recover.

"Se…" Konoka watched in horror as he friend fell off the edge of the building. With that, she felt there was only one thing to do.

As if she were on autopilot, Konoka jumped off after her. "Secchan!"

The crowd watched with a mix of horror and amazement as Konoka fell even with Setsuna.

_Ojou-sama…?_ Setsuna blinked as she barely registered the girl in front of her, falling along with her, healing her…

Healing her!

A light flashed. The crowd watched in awe as Konoka exuded waves of healing energy, slowing her descent greatly and removing both the dreaded arrow and the wound on Setsuna.

Meanwhile, Cygnus was seeing nothing but red. "You damn woman!" He bellowed at Chigiusa. "JUST DIE!" He hurled his Keyblade at her like a boomerang. However, the true unlucky one was the Heartless, which took the hit right in the face. The sharp end of the blade was just inches from Chigiusa as it went through the Heartless, disfiguring it before it disappeared completely into dark mist. The Keyblade reappeared in Cygnus's hands. "I'll KILL you next time!" And with that he ran away from the bridge to Konoka's side.

By now, Konoka stood safely on the ground, with Setsuna cradled in her arms. "Secchan… thank goodness," Konoka said.

"Ojou-sama…" Setsuna said. "You healed me?" She looked towards her shoulder, seeing that the wound was completely gone.

"I was in a trance," Konoka answered honestly. "I really don't know what happened."

Seeing as she was still alive, Chigiusa mused from the rooftop. "So that's her power… We'll definitely make use of that." She disappeared.

Cygnus came running over to them. "Are you two okay?" He noticed Goofy approach from behind, a sorrowful look on his face.

They nodded. Konoka looked over to see Zexion approach. "Awa…" She pointed, and the other two saw the silver-haired man walk towards them.

"That, Miss Konoka, is why the darkness is after you," Zexion answered. "Your power is amazing beyond recognition, and that is why the Heartless want you dead. But," He pulled out one of his swords. Setsuna tensed, Konoka gasped, and Cygnus snarled, his Keyblade ready. "Perhaps…"

This was quickly interrupted when he saw that he didn't have a sword anymore. More accurately, he saw that his sword had been sliced off. Zexion turned around to see a figure standing behind him.

"'Sup Zexy?" Sonic calmly greeted, his ninja axe on his shoulder. "Isn't that what Axel calls you nowadays, or so I hear?"

"Sonic." Zexion did not look surprised at all to see him.

"No need to be telling girls scary stories about the Heartless! Besides, it's not like her friends will let things happen to her!" Sonic jumped over Zexion and landed in front of Cygnus, his trademark grin still on his face. "You guys need to split, meet up with Negi and head to Kansai! It's not safe for you here!"

"I guess you're right…" Setsuna nodded. _We have no choice,_ she added in her thoughts as she picked up Konoka in her arms. "Ojou-sama… let's get back to your family home… and meet Sora-san and the others!"

"We'll catch you later, Sonic," Cygnus grinned as he, Konoka, Setsuna, and Goofy split away, ignoring the crowd's standing ovation on their performances.

Sonic turned back to Zexion. "So how about it? A last battle to really get the crowd going?"

Zexion only answered by pulling out his second sword.

(Ah! Record time busting out this new chapter! And it's my longest one to date.

Next time: The Negima saga comes to a thrilling conclusion as our heroes meet the kindly big boss of Kansai, but the rebels aren't done yet! What evil have they got under their sleeves? And what does the hidden home of the Thousand Master hold about _Ansem_? Stay tuned!)


	8. Episode 7: Magister Negi Magi

**Kingdom Hearts: Sin Angel**

**Episode 7: Magister Negi Magi**

"You guys okay?" Cygnus asked Sora. The now nine-strong group walked onwards to the Kansai Mansion.

"Yeah," Sora gave a small smile in response to Cygnus's concern. "Thanks to Nodoka we were able to fight off that Kotarou guy. Are you guys okay?"

"Heh heh, sure," Cygnus grinned slightly. "Setsuna and I managed to hold our own until Sonic bailed us out."

"Sonic's been actin' a bit weird," Sora scratched his head, a worried look on his face. "Granted, I've only seen him a couple of times, but something seems off about him."

"Maybe you're feelin' that way because he works for the Sin Angel," Cygnus shrugged. "I don't really blame you, but he still seems like the Sonic I always knew."

"I guess…" Sora sighed.

Our heroes had arrived. The Kansai Mansion loomed large and silent against the mountains. The forest only made the mansion even more imposing. So a majority of the people were surprised when Konoka suddenly smiled and rushed ahead. "Let's go!" She cheered.

"Wait a second, Konoka!" Cygnus sputtered. "That's the enemy stronghold!"

"Something's coming out!" Asuna readied her card. Sora followed suit with his Keyblade.

All at once, several ladies appeared in two rows besides the walkway, each in Kansai robes. They bowed as all spoke at once, "We've been waiting for you, Negi Springfield-sensei, Sora-san, Cygnus-san."

"Say what?" Sora and Cygnus asked, their eyes shrinking in surprise. The others, sans Konoka, only blinked.

Konoka smiled.

"I've heard about you from the Mahora Campus's Principal," Negi looked further up to see a middle-aged man in more elaborate robes step forward. "The Keyblade Masters, too. I am the Kansai Magic Association's leader, Konoe Eishun."

"Konoe?" Sora asked. "Then that means…"

"It's been a while, dad!" Konoka plastered the great leader with a gentle hug.

"Konoka's father is indeed the leader of the Kansai Magic Association," Setsuna answered the now obvious question.

"WHHAAAA?.!" The others gasped in surprise.

Asuna continued, "Why didn't you tell us this earlier?"

"I'm sorry," Setsuna apologized. "I thought Konoka-ojou-sama would be in more danger if she were close to home… but my plan in Cinema Town backfired. It looks like we'll be safe here."

"Whew, we can finally relax," Donald gave a sigh or relief.

----

Once inside and settled, the group gathered around as Negi delivered the envelope containing the letter… his supposed "secret mission" during the entire field trip.

Eishun opened it. Among a few formal letters was something posted in front.

_Can't you even control your own henchmen? Get a grip, son-in-law!_

_Hmph._

_ Headmaster Konoe Konoemon_

_Father-in-law is harsh, as usual,_ Eishun mentally noted. He turned back to Negi. "Well then… By the will of the Chief of the East, we will work to eradicate the differences between the Kantou and Kansai Magic Associations. Good work, Negi Springfield-kun!"

Negi smiled.

"YEAH!" Sora cheered. "Great going, Negi!" Cygnus chuckled merrily.

"Negi-sensei…" Nodoka stared at him adoringly.

"The class might get suspicious with all of us gone though…" Negi thought out loud.

"Don't worry," Eishun smiled. "I can send shikigami clones in your place. Please stay here for the night, as I have a feast prepared for all of you."

"ALL RIGHT!" The group of heroes cheered.

----

"Tch, Slade's gone," Terra noted, annoyed. She, Chigiusa, and Kotarou stood on a very large branch of a tree overlooking Kansai Headquarters.

"And worse yet those brats made it to headquarters," Chigiusa pouted. "Now we can't interfere!"

"Don't worry, Ms. Amagsaki," A voice rang out, dark and sinister. Slade reappeared beside them, followed by Zexion. Slade's one eye narrowed as he continued, "Zexion and I were merely discussing matters. The real game has just begun."

"So how is this going to work!"

Zexion leered at her in a calm, almost creepy manner. "Leave that to me."

----

That evening, everyone had settled down to an enormous feast. Nodoka and Asuna were talking to Donald and Goofy about their previous adventures. Sora and Cygnus on the other hand were pigging out on food, hungry from their adventures earlier that day. Konoka was just out of earshot of both groups, simply happy to be home.

"Setsuna-kun?" Eishun asked, sitting at the head of the table nearby Negi.

The girl approached swiftly and immediately knelt before him. "You wanted to see me, sir!"

He chuckled lightly. "No need to be so formal," This caught the attention of Negi, Sora, and Cygnus, who gathered close around the two. Seeing this, Eishun continued. "Thank you for protecting Konoka for these two years. You have responded to all of my selfish requests well."

"N-no!" Setsuna spoke out, her face flushing slightly red. "Your words are wasted upon me; I've always wanted to protect ojou-sama… but I apologize, I failed today…"

"I heard the story… it seems that she used her powers to heal you completely," He said. "But because nothing happened, I'd say that you're quite fortunate." He turned to Sora. "As well, you seem to have crossed paths with people interested in her safety too."

"Huh?" Sora blinked. Cygnus stood up, dashed over towards Setsuna and knelt alongside her.

"I want to protect Konoka too!" He bellowed a little too loudly. Setsuna attempted to reprimand him, but that failed due to Negi and Sora trying (and failing miserably) to hold back their snickering.

The Kansai leader laughed lightly. "I see." As Cygnus shamefacedly looked up at him, he suddenly said. "My, you do resemble Ansem."

"Ansem!" Sora and Cygnus jumped up in total shock.

"Hehheh, in case you were wondering, yes, that Ansem," he answered. "The man had paid me a visit, seeking knowledge about the legend of the Thousand Master—your father, Negi."

"My father?" Negi asked. "Did you know about the Thousand Master? Do you?"

Eishun's smile went from soft to wry. "That idiot Nagi Springfield… we were inseperable friends!"

Negi stared in amazement. Where he had come from, tales of his father's great feats have reached far and wide, but made him seem untouchable. The fact that he had a close collection of friends seemed even more amazing.

Sora, however, had a different approach. "What did Ansem want to know about the Thousand Master?"

"Ansem inquired of Nagi's house here in Kyoto…" Eishun began.

"Ah, that's what I've been looking for!" Negi exclaimed. "Do you know where it is?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. I can show you the way tomorrow," Eishun informed them.

"We'd be glad to go!" Cygnus said. "Maybe Ansem found something useful at that house."

"Perhaps," Eishun's smile faded as he looked back at Konoka, who was now chatting animatedly with Asuna and Nodoka. "Negi-kun, I'm beginning to doubt how long my daughter can stay safe, not knowing of her own magic power…" He furrowed his brow in deep consternation. "As Konoka is part of the Konoe bloodline, she has amazing magic power… greater than that of the Thousand Master. If power like that could be manipulated, it could spell doom for not just this planet, but possibly many others… at least, that is what Ansem told me."

"I don't mean to be rude," Cygnus interjected, "But you're not just bragging about Konoka's powers, are you?"

Setsuna slapped him.

"Hey, that was my job," Sora pouted.

"It needed a woman's touch," Setsuna replied curtly.

Eishun smiled again. "Ah, reminds me of my earlier days." Though his smile didn't leave, he went back to his serious tone. "I'd thought I'd be able to give Konoka a normal life, so she could be happy. But the day has come… Setsuna, could you discreetly tell Konoka of her magic?"

Setsuna looked slightly daunted, but nevertheless she swallowed and nodded.

-----

The night came…

…and all was peaceful so far.

Sora, Negi, and Asuna walked back from the baths, fully invigorated. Kamo stood perched on Negi's shoulder. "That was nice!" Sora agreed. "It's been a while since I could take a bath like that."

"Uh-huh!" Negi agreed.

"Too bad you still don't like baths," Asuna muttered.

"HEY!"

Sora chuckled. Asuna and Negi's spats were just like that of brother and sister. He thought back to when he used to get into such comical arguments with Riku. _Those were the days,_ he mused.

"Sora. Negi-sensei," Sora turned to see Setsuna, walking towards them.

"Huh? Setsuna?" Sora asked.

"Where is Konoka-ojou-sama?" Setsuna got straight to the point.

Negi stopped his bickering with Asuna to answer her question. "She's in the baths! Why, what do you need?"

Setsuna cleared her throat at the mention of her charge in the baths. "Very well then, I…" However, a sudden shift in the atmosphere caught their attention.

"Huh?" Sora blinked.

A wave of near invisible energy blasted through, their air suddenly becoming violent with magic energy, and then suddenly becoming silent once again, save the small chime from Asuna's bell ornaments in her hair.

"What was that…" Negi began.

"… we just felt?" Asuna finished.

"Negi-kun!" A foot stomped into the scene.

The group turned to see Eishun appear before them… and slowly turn into stone before their eyes. "Chief!" Setsuna exclaimed.

"I put too much faith in the barriers…" He strained as more of his body became stone. "Beware… the silver-haired man… his powers are on a completely different level…" by now, only his face was still unfrozen. "Please… protect… Konoka!"

And he was completely petrified.

"Chief!" Setsuna cried out.

-----

Zexion reappeared on the big tree limb, where Kotarou stood crouched. "It is done."

Kotarou sniffed the air in a dog-like fashion. "I still smell survivors."

"Then distract or kill them."

"Killing innocent people is a waste of my strength," Kotarou growled. "And I already tested Sora."

"I'd thought you say that," A small smile graced Zexion's face. "There is still the other Keybearer."

"Oh? In that case," Kotarou grinned, his sharp nails gleaming in the night. He leapt off the tree and dashed off into the night.

Zexion stood for a moment before disappearing again.

----

"C-C-CURSE IT! I'm turning into stone!" Cygnus twitched in panic. Nodoka only shivered in fear as she saw that Goofy was already completely petrified.

"Stop panicking and sit still!" Donald commanded, weaving magic on himself to undo the petrification. It was chewing up a lot of his strength and concentration, and the dark boy's yammering wasn't helping matters much. At last, completely free, he got to work undoing the others. "I don't know what's happening, but we need to find Sora before we can start unthawing everyone else!"

"R-right!" Nodoka agreed.

"I don't think you'll be freeing people anymore!" A voice rang out, and just as Donald finished healing Cygnus and Nodoka, a dark blur slammed into him and knocked him into the wall, knocking him out cold. "'Sup, lady and the chump," Kotarou greeted the other two. "I've come to take you down!"

"K-Kotarou?.!" Nodoka gasped.

"That's right," Kotarou grinned, baring his fangs. "But I can't have a lady like you getting in a fight and getting hurt, or worse yet, making it easy for the dark chump!" He pulled out a charm. "You stay out of the way like a good girl!" He chucked the charm at her and it burst, unleashing ropes that tied up poor Nodoka and sent her sliding into the corner of the room.

Cygnus's eye twitched at the sight, willing back an unnecessary nosebleed. "I did not need to see that…" As luck would have it, Kotarou took advantage of his distracted state and smashed him with a kick, sending him skidding across the floor. Cygnus cursed, trying to regain strength.

"HA! You're an even bigger chump than Springfield!" Kotarou smiled. "I don't know why you think you even have a chance to match his strength, let alone Sora!"

"Damn you," Cygnus lunged, Keyblade ready. Kotarou blocked his attacks as Cygnus continued to swing his Keyblade at him, rage growing. Kotarou pulled a spin kick that sent the darker-skinned boy to the ground.

"Ha, you call yourself a Keyblade Master," Kotarou sniffed. "Just like I said to Sora, your key ain't nothin' special!" He lunged again.

Cygnus bared his teeth. "YAAHHH!" With speed not seen from him before the dark boy became a dark and almost swan-shaped blur, smashing into the boy with lightning speed. He swung around for a second strike but Kotarou got lucky and managed to deflect the attack with a punch.

Cygnus slid back, Keyblade still ready. _Curse it, he's stronger than me! I need to finish this while he still thinks I'm a weaking!_ The dark boy scampered along the ground as Kotarou summoned a round of dark wolf spirits. Using his speed he evaded the attacks as best he could. _Only one shot…_ He shot towards Kotarou, who aimed his fist for him…

Cygnus struck first. Before Kotarou could even reel back from shock, the older boy pounced on top of him roughly, his Keyblade to dog-demon's neck. "I'm not wasting any more time! Tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Heh heh heh," Kotarou laughed weakly. "You're not a chump after all… but it's a bit late for you to show that off…"

"What do you mean?"

"By now, that Chigiusa woman has already kidnapped the girl… I played my part, my show's over."

"What!" Cygnus yelled. "Konoka's been kidnapped?.! You were just stalling me, weren't you?" He leered harder at the boy. Seeing him in this weak state made Cygnus feel that he wasn't fighting a villain so much as a manipulated boy. "Why are you helping that damn woman anyway?"

"I just signed up so I could pick a fight with the legendary Springfield and the Keyblade Masters…" Kotarou answered, his weak but still dangerous grin on his face. "It's the first time I've been taken down by someone with the same skills as me. And for that, I'm glad."

"Hmph… You sound pretty noble," Cygnus let go of Kotarou and stood up. "If you're still aiming to be a tough guy, take care of Miss Nodoka." And with that, Cygnus sprinted off after to go find the others.

Kotarou sighed, but before he could grumble about his weak state, a blue and black blur dashed in, coming to a stop in front of him.

"What do we have here?" Sonic the Hedgehog grinned, holding a potion of some sort.

----

Chigiusa chuckled sinisterly as she gazed at bound, gagged, and terrified Konoka. The girl's hands were bound in front of her as she lay in her monkey suit's arms. Terra and Zexion stood at either side of them.

"Don't worry, Konoka-ojou-sama, we won't hurt you," Chigiusa talked smoothly to the girl. "We just want to borrow your power for a bit."

However, her talking was cut short as a stern voice bellowed, "Release ojou-sama at once!" Chigiusa and her entourage turned to see Sora, Negi, Asuna, and Setsuna staring her down, weapons drawn. Setsuna stood to the front. "We will not let you get away! This ends here!"

"Tch, you clowns again," Chigiusa smirked. "I can't afford to let you stop us now that we've gone this far. Let me show you the power of the princess," The woman lifted her hands into the air and began to float, gathering magic energy. "Uhn, kiri kiri vajara… uunhatta!"

With this Konoka began to lift into the air, shuddering as if in pain. Her muffled cries were barely heard as she began to glow, and the surrounding ground below the group of good guys began to light up as well. From the depths came a mass of large and powerful Heartless, eyeing the heroes hungrily.

"Damn her, she probably summoned whatever she could with Konoka-san's magic!" Kamo muttered under his breath.

"You can have fun with all these Heartless and demons! See ya!" And with that, Chigiusa and Zexion flew off with Konoka in their clutches.

"Wait!" Setsuna shouted, but as she stepped forward, a large demon stepped in her path.

"I don't think so, girlie," The crow-like demon stared, its beak-like mouth grinning widely and showing serrated teeth. "We came here to fight… and fight we shall!"

"We have no choice," Sora clenched his teeth and prepared his Keyblade. "Bring it, then!"

The creatures lunged. Sora reacted first and smashed down a crowd of Neo Shadows. Asuna swept forward after him, banishing the tougher demons with one powerful sweep of her paper fan. Negi gathered his magic strength, and several arrows of light smashed in Heartless and demons alike.

Setsuna, however, was fighting the most vigorously of them all. No demon or Heartless could stand against her for more than 3 seconds before being sliced down by her powerful sword techniques. Heartless after Heartless fell before the determined group.

But then Setsuna crossed swords with a far more agile crow demon. "I'm impressed, girlie, but I'm tougher than the creatures you fought before," Setsuna strained as she tried to parry his onslaught, but to no avail. Her eyes widened in shock as the demon sniffed the air for a moment before silently declaring, "You smell familiar…" With this Setsuna only fought harder.

Sora was so focused on the Heartless that he failed to notice the large slabs of earth coming towards him until it was almost too late. Ducking out of the way as the pieces of earth indiscriminately destroyed some Heartless, Sora looked up to see Terra. "Don't think you'll be leaving me out of this fight," She grinned snidely as she assaulted Sora with the power of the earth.

Seeing everyone straining with the stronger Heartless, Negi hissed, "There's too many of them! If this keeps going we'll…!" He stopped just in time to see a black blur dash past him and smash into Terra, ultimately landing beside Sora.

"Hey Sora, sorry I'm late!" Cygnus grinned. "Someone tried to stall us!" He looked to see the advancing Heartless. "Let's trash 'em up!"

"Gotcha!" Sora and Cygnus combined their strength, and the two ricocheted across the ground, smashing Heartless. They finished the move by summoning beams of darkness and light from below, killing a few of the demons as well.

Negi smiled to see Cygnus arrive, but he turned his attention to Asuna, who was still struggling with a large, reptilian-like Heartless with huge muscles. This Monstrosity Heartless easily repelled Asuna's attacks, much to his dismay. He stepped forward to lend a hand when a whirling and all-too-familiar ninja axe sliced the Heartless clean in two.

Both Asuna and Negi looked back to see Sonic the Hedgehog, smirking as Donald, Goofy, and Nodoka appeared behind him. "Hey guys! The cavalry's here!"

"Donald-san! Goofy-san! Nodoka-san! You're okay!" Negi smiled.

"Negi-sensei, please hurry and rescue Konoka-san!" Nodoka implored.

Donald lifted his wand into the air and a flurry of lightning bolts fried the nearby Heartless around Sora and Cygnus. "Hey, you two clowns! Go help Negi rescue Konoka! We've got things here!"

Sora and Cygnus nodded, understanding. "Setsuna!" Sora called out. "Get Negi and let's go!" Both Keyblade Masters sprinted towards the direction in which they saw the fleeing enemy.

Somehow Setsuna heard and understood. She backed away from the Heartless as Donald and Goofy moved in to attack in her place.

Negi prepared his staff in front of him. As he, Asuna, and Setsuna hopped on, he turned back to the others. "Nodoka-san, Sonic-san, Donald-san, and Goofy-san… thank you very much!" With the two girls in tow, Negi took off.

Sonic saw them leave as a voice interrupted, "It was a mistake to let them leave… your chances of surviving are low."

Sonic turned to see Terra, leering down on him. "Oh really? I don't think you've got the heart to be evil enough to finish us off," the hedgehog countered. "And even if you were… it's not like you could beat us!" Nodoka summoned her book, it and she nearly glowing with power. Sonic swung his ninja axe and tensed his body, preparing to fight. "I don't think that darkness in your heart suits you. Let me show you what you still are!" Sonic launched his first attack.

-----

The empty night sky suddenly came to life as a shining beam of light began to emerge from a large rock, growing stronger by the moment.

Chigiusa stood at an altar, beginning a chant to summon an ancient demon from the rock across the vast, dark lake. Konoka lay upon the altar, glowing with energy, her mouth still taped shut. Zexion stood some distance back, choosing to observe from the dock.

"You might want to hurry up," Zexion commented idly to Chigiusa as she continued her chanting. "They're coming."

"What!" Chigiusa gaped in shock.

"No worries, I have this," Zexion turned back to see Negi, Asuna, and Setsuna arrive. Sora and Cygnus dashed into the scene, sliding into fighting stances right behind Negi. "I see you've finally caught up. But will you be fast enough to rescue your princess?"

No witty retorts from the five heroes. Negi immediately set to work, calling out a magic spell. "Ras tel ma scir Magister… Saggita Magica, Seris Lucis!" Seventeen arrows of light shot towards Zexion.

Zexion threw up a perfect blue barrier, its blue wall patterned with light and dark blue squares. The barrier easily deflected Negi's attack.

"Aiyah!" Kamo exclaimed, his eyes growing wide. "He bounced off that attack like it was nothing!"

Setsuna stepped forward. "You're that actor from Cinema Town!" She clenched her teeth and prepared her sword.

"You're going DOWN this time!" Cygnus bellowed. "Setsuna!" Both combatants lunged towards Zexion.

However, Zexion formed a red energy blade, and twisting gracefully, countered both fighters and sent them crashing painfully into the ground.

"He's a member of the Sin Angel!" Sora exclaimed. "He's too tough to be your average magic user! He's probably the guy that destroyed the Chief's defenses!" He turned toward Negi and nodded. The boy began chanting as Sora charged Zexion as well.

"How do you expect to beat me where the girl and the dark child failed?" Zexion asked, bringing forward his energy blade.

"I don't expect to. Fire!" Sora shot a blast of flames towards the silver-haired man. Zexion reflected it, and the fire attack fell into the water, creating a great burst of steam. Zexion immediately spotted Sora and launched an attack, but Sora only snickered and dodged.

Unbeknownst to Zexion, Negi had snuck behind him during Sora's attack. As soon as Zexion turned his back, Negi lunged. "Aer… capturae!" Negi shoved his hand onto Zexion's back. At once, a flurry of windy tendrils wrapped themselves around the cloaked man, stopping him completely. Zexion looked surprised and somewhat impressed.

"That's not bad in the least," Zexion answered. "But the question still stands… Can you rescue your princess in time?"

"It'll take you too long to escape that!" Negi responded. "And besides…" He and Sora ran forward to the altar…

…only to find Konoka missing.

"She's gone!" Sora exclaimed.

But that wasn't all. The earth shook, and from the waters a giant, white hand emerged. That gave way to a towering, white demon with two faces and four arms, its size easily dwarfing Sora. It stared down at the two boys with two bulbous red eyes. Floating by its head was Chigiusa, chuckling sinsterly. "You're one step too late. The ritual's finished." The monster gave a roar that nearly shook the heavens as well as the earth.

"I-i-it's way too big!" Kamo stuttered from an equally shocked Asuna's shoulders.

"Two-faced four-armed giant demon 'Ryoumen Sukunanokami.' A great demon defeated 1600 years ago… is now under my power." Chigiusa sneered. The creature roared as it began to gain power. Although two of its arms rested at its side, the other two were raised, as if holding an invisible globe. Red electricity cackled from its hands, holding a floating prisoner inside its barrier…

…Konoka.

"Ojou-sama!" Setsuna cried out. "It's drawing power from her!"

Negi stepped forward, his teeth clenched. Sora aimed his Keyblade.

"Negi! Don't do it!" Kamo warned. "Your body will—!"

"Ras Tel Mas Scir Magister..." He unlocked his magic power. "Veniant spiritus aeriales fulgurientes," With that power, he gathered wind and lightning to his side, preparing his ultimate attack. "cum fulgurationi flet tempestas austrina JOVIS TEMPESTAS FULGURIENS!"

"RAAUUGGH!" Sora heaved his Keyblade at the same time Negi unleashed his powerful wind/lightning mix. Negi's attack powered up Sora's, allowing the Keyblade to rocket towards the creature's chest and blast it dead on.

The bad news was that, despite it being pushed backwards slightly, it did no damage.

"OHHOHOHOHO!" Chigiusa laughed. "Even the great Thousand Master's son and the power of the Keyblade combined were not enough to hurt this creature! Maybe you're worthless after all… Sukuna!" The demon responded with its eyes shining. A psychic blast of red energy knocked Sora and Negi to the ground. Continuing her gloating, the woman crowed. "I'm unstoppable now!"

The other three looked on in horror as the creature continued to look imposing over the fallen Keyblade wielder and mage.

Setsuna swallowed. There was no more hiding… in this desperate time she needed her true power.

"You two," She said to Asuna and Cygnus. "Get Negi and Sora away from here…I'm going to save Konoka-ojou-sama!"

"What? But how?" Asuna asked.

"Ojou-sama is trapped within that creature's reach… I can get there if it's just me." She nearly whispered. "Dark child, Asuna… I _have_ kept a secret from you. Once you see me in my true form, you'll have to say goodbye."

"Huh?" Cygnus blinked.

Setsuna arched forward a bit, attempting to force out some sort of power. Both Asuna and Cygnus stood in shock as white, feathery wings emerged from her back, giving her the appearance of an angel. So they were further surprised when she continued sadly. "I am a monster… just like them. A half-demon…" Her voice gained strength. "Don't get me wrong! My desire to protect Konoka-ojou-sama has always been real. But with this form, I had to keep it a secret. If she hated this ugly form…" She sighed sadly. "Even Miyazaki has more courage than I. I'm pathetic."

"Huh?" Setsuna looked in dull surprise as Asuna and a now recovered Negi inspected her wings. This dullness dropped to pure shock when Negi and Asuna only expressed awe rather than hatred. "So cool…" they breathed.

But most of all, she was taken aback when Cygnus began to laugh.

"You call yourself a demon? I refuse to believe it," The dark boy glared, a snide, yet reassuring grin on his face. "Even if that's the case, you're nowhere near as dark as me. If Konoka can see the nice side of even me, there's no way she'd hate you for something so trivial… or beautiful, as this." He jabbed lightly at her wings. "And who said you had to go by yourself?" He lifted himself up in the air, using his dark power like jet propulsion. "I CAN FLY TOO! WE'LL RESCUE HER TOGETHER (even though I'll let you take all the credit, since you two need to get married and all)!"

"We're behind you all the way!" Negi smiled.

Setsuna smiled, tears in her eyes. "Thank you for all your support. For Kono-chan…" She and Cygnus began to take off towards the mighty demon.

However, Zexion broke free of Negi's earlier spell. "I don't think it's time for you to fly yet," He aimed a spell at the flying Setsuna…

…only to get a Keyblade to the arm, causing the energy blast to fall harmlessly into the lake. Zexion turned to see Sora standing there, reinvigorated and ready to fight. "WE will be your opponents!" Negi and Asuna bore fighting stances as well.

Zexion turned back towards them, the shining light of the demon giving him an eerie, fallen angel-like appearance. His hands crackled with energy. "I see you are serious. Then let our battle begin."

Sora gripped his Keyblade tightly. Asuna and Negi tensed.

Sora leapt into battle first.

But before the Keyblade Master could even land a hit, Zexion disappeared. The silver-haired man reappeared behind him and smacked him away with an energy blade.

"Sora!" Negi cried out.

Zexion rushed forward towards Negi, attempting to strike him down with an energy blade. Negi rolled to the side, dodged again—

"Cantus Bellax!" The red-haired boy could already feel the strength coming back to him. He aimed a punch, but Zexion put up a wall shield at the last second, and the poor boy got a vicious shock instead. Sora, who had recovered by now, leapt over Negi and smashed into Zexion, knocking him away.

"Negi!" Asuna cried out. However, she turned her attention back to Zexion to see him knock away Sora again. Zexion turned and saw her. Both of them lunged at each other, clashing with energy blade and paper fan.

"Just as I thought," Zexion said. "You can nullify magic… no wonder you can defeat people with just a paper fan. It's also why you and the others around you were not affected by my petrification spell." Asuna only grunted as she pushed away and pressed another round of attacks. Sora jumped in as well, but Zexion merely produced another blade, allowing him to easily fend off both attackers.

Zexion leapt back, swung his weapon in a wide, upward sweep and knocked Asuna's weapon out of her hands. "Let me test you now," He breathed, lunging with his energy blade.

"Asuna-san!" Negi saw that Asuna was almost helpless against the silver-haired man's attack without her weapon. He reacted quickly, jumping up and shoving her out of harm's way…

…only to get brutally smashed himself by the wicked blade.

"NEGI!" Asuna cried desperately as the boy tumbled to the ground, almost lifeless.

Zexion only stared blankly, confused at why he missed his mark. He didn't have time to think much further though, as a furious Sora launched a powerful combo on him. He barely dodged the attacks.

----

"ALL RIGHT YOU DAMN BITCH!" Cygnus bellowed as he and Setsuna flew opposite of Chigiusa and Sukuna. "YOU'RE GOING TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET TODAY!"

"I'm taking ojou-sama back!" Setsuna yelled, preparing her sword.

"Not on your life! SUKUNA!" Chigiusa bellowed.

The giant demon's eyes flashed, and it fired powerful lasers from its eyes. Setsuna and Cygnus dodged the attacks, furiously moving and weaving as it then resorted to trying to swat them down.

Setsuna was at the barrier in which the creature held Konoka. She brought her sword down…

…and received a terrible shock.

"Curse it… this barrier's strong!"

Konoka tilted her head towards Setsuna, observing her trying to smash the barrier despite the immense pain. _Don't do it, Secchan! You'll die!_

Setsuna growled, her thoughts back to the day she failed to save her friend. "Don't worry ojou-sama! I will… always… protect you!"

"Let me help!" Cygnus bellowed, shoving his hand on Setsuna's back and getting shocked as well. As he strained against the barrier, he hissed, "If you're going to do something stupid… at least let me suffer with you!" Cygnus pushed Setsuna with all his might assisting her with the powerful barrier. "YAAAAAGGGHHH!"

The barrier shattered.

Konoka fell, and Setsuna caught her in her arms. Cygnus followed behind, still weak.

With the monster simply roaring out of control, Setsuna and Cygnus ignored it as the winged girl carried Konoka to safety. "Ojou-sama! Are you okay?"

Konoka slowly opened her eyes. "Secchan… hehe, I knew it… you can to my rescue again." She looked over to see Cygnus, weakened but with a lopsided grin to his face. "Cygnus-kun… helped too, didn't he?"

Setsuna nodded.

"Ah… your back…" Konoka noticed Setsuna's white wings.

"U-um…" Setsuna wasn't sure how to explain these wings.

She didn't have to. "They're beautiful…"

Setsuna nearly gasped. She smiled as tears streamed down her face.

"…like an angel…"

"SEE, I WAS RIGHT!" Cygnus pointed at the two of them.

With tears still streaming down and a smile still on her face, Setsuna retorted, "You just shut up."

----

"N-Negi…" Asuna dashed to his side, seeing the boy still crumpled up in pain. The sight of the poor boy went from worry over him to rage at Zexion. Turning back towards him, she clenched her teeth and picked up her weapon. "You… are going… to pay…" She lifted her paper fan to strike…

…and before she knew it, it had become the sword.

Zexion put up a wall barrier, but the sword only clashed against it for three seconds before the barrier shattered completely. Sora took the golden opportunity to smash the Chaos Saint in the gut and send him flying backward a considerable distance. He rose to get up. "That's… the first time I've ever seen those barriers broken…" He looked at Asuna and Sora, who were struggling to stand. "But you are out of strength… your game is over," Zexion surged forward…

…but came to a stop as he found himself face-to-face with a blond girl in a dark dress.

She had emerged out of the shadows so suddenly Zexion didn't even detect her until it was too late. He was further surprised to see Vexen right behind her. The girl spoke. "Looks like you've been entertaining my boy… amateur," Evangeline A. K. McDowell sneered.

With the effort it normally takes to scratch her nose, the seemingly young girl blasted Zexion across the lake and into the forest.

Negi struggled to sit up once he saw Zexion being smashed away. He smiled once he saw a familiar face. "Evangeline-san!"

"We're even now, boy," Evangeline still grinned, showing off her vampiric fangs.

"You're Evangeline?" Sora pointed. "Wow… you're strong!" Noticing the scientific Chaos Saint behind her, Sora asked. "And what's Vexen doing here?"

"I've come to observe, my dear boy," Vexen smiled and pointed towards the monster.

Chigiusa growled, not believing the sudden change in events. "Curse that Shinmeiryuu girl and that dark boy! But with Sukuna I can still get the girl back…huh?" She looked to the sky and saw something flying in the air some distance away.

The android Chachamaru had what looked like a massive sniper rifle aimed at the monster. "Master," The green-haired robot reported. "The barrier shell is ready."

"Shoot it." Evangeline commanded.

She did. A shell blasted out some distance before exploding and ensnaring the demon in a powerful barrier. Sukuna roared in pain.

"H-How!" Chigiusa stuttered.

At first Evangeline didn't answer. Instead, she began to call forth a power of darkness. "Lic lac la lac lilac… Epigenethito taionion erebos…" She shoved her hand forward. "Aionic krustalle!" At this, the water surrounding the creature rose up and ensnared it in a giant, icy tomb, rendering the creature entirely immobile.

"That much power… impossible!"

"You've run out of luck, woman!" Evangeline taunted, her hands glowing with icy dark energy. "I'm the vampire Evangeline, the strongest, the undefeated magician of evil! Ha ha ha!"

"She's really getting into this, isn't she?" Asuna stared.

"You could say that again…" Sora's eyes shrank at her power.

"Pacise zoicise ton ison tanaton… Cosmique Catastrophe!" Evangeline, who was still glowing with power, suddenly turned her back to her opponent. "Hmph… shatter." She snapped her fingers.

The ice containing the demon shattered, and Sukuna was no more.

"AIYAAAHHH!" Chigiusa was sent flying into the forest.

It was finally over.

Sora continued to stare in shock, unable to believe that the game had ended just like that. As Evangeline descended back with the group, Sora marveled, "I haven't seen that much strength… since I last fought Sephiroth."

Asuna immediately decided she did not want to encounter this Sephiroth. Ever.

"Her magic is beyond many in this realm, perhaps in the universe," Vexen gave a lopsided grin as Evangeline continued to gloat and revel in the glory. "She held many powerful ice spells I was most interested in learning, which is why I helped to free her from her curse of being bound to Mahora Academy."

"The curse?" Negi asked. "How did you do it?"

"I pointed the Headmaster of that school a place where he could get increased funding to help ward off the differences between the Kantou and Kansai Magic Associations…" Vexen answered. "…and in turn, he decided to help me with a temporary solution to free Evangeline."

Chacahmaru landed down beside Evangeline, who smirked evilly as the robot girl explained, "To ward the spirits sustaining the curse, the Headmaster is stamping his seal on documents of 'the field trip is part of Master's academic studies' every five seconds at this very moment."

"Every five seconds?" Negi blinked.

"He's gonna be okay, right?" Asuna asked.

"He better be," Sora muttered.

Evangeline ignored the veiled threat and merely smiled. "It feels so nice to be out again. I'll be accompanying you until the end of the trip tomorrow, so you shouldn't have to worry." She looked around. "Where is Konoka?"

Everyone else looked around for a moment, up until Vexen spoke up. "The girl with wings moved her to the safety of the forest… Speaking of which, I have business to attend to." He turned to Evangeline. "It was nice having your acquaintance. Farewell," Vexen disappeared.

Sora crossed his arms. "Lets go find her."

----

Terra panted, seeing as she was once again beaten.

Sonic stood before her, holding his ninja axe across his shoulder. "Looks like your show's over!"

"Maybe it is," She admitted softly. No need to pick another losing fight.

"Slade won't be happy, I'll bet."

"Tch, doesn't matter."

"Does it?"

Terra looked away. Indeed, although Slade would not really be concerned with her right now, she knew she'd be on the receiving end of his ire later if he learned she ran from a fight. Sonic continued. "I think you should rethink the whole evil villain thing… back when I saw you on Earth… you had the makings of a hero."

"Heroes don't bring death and destruction," Terra mused bitterly. "Not like I did…"

"I'm not sure that'd disqualify you anymore," Sonic's smile faded a bit.

Terra stood up. "I'll destroy you later…" And with that, she walked away.

Sonic looked on for a bit before she disappeared.

"What was that about?" Donald asked walking over with Goofy and Nodoka.

"Change… maybe…" Sonic looked into the distance. He shook off his wistful look and turned to the others. "Looks like everything's okay now. I'm gonna go check on the others. Catch ya later!" Sonic left in a blue blur, gone completely before any of the others could blink twice.

-----

"Secchan," Konoka said, as the winged girl came to a gentle stop in the forest.

"Ojou-sama…" Setsuna smiled. Her wings disappeared.

Cygnus landed down in front of them. "I think it's over… I heard the monster bite the dust…" Cygnus took a step forward…

…and crumpled to the ground.

"Cygnus-kun!" Konoka called out in alarm.

Setsuna said, "Don't worry… we're still… here…" Setsuna collapsed, but unlike Cygnus she seemed deathly ill.

"Secchan? Secchan! SECCHAN!"

"C-c-c… damn… that barrier… wasted my energy…" Cygnus strained to get up, but he was too weak.

"That's too bad, isn't it?" Konoka looked past Cygnus to see a man approach, his one eye leering behind a mask. Slade stepped towards her. "Your power is beyond anything I've seen… stronger than even the power of the Keyblade, perhaps. But as you refuse to be manipulated, you are a danger to my plans. For that you must perish," Slade lifted a hand, and Konoka only stared in horror as dark energy began to grow…

Vexen reappeared in front of Slade within a blink of an eye. "That will do," He said coldly.

"You truly believe you can stop me?" Slade coolly asked.

"Perhaps, perhaps not," Vexen's lopsided grin returned. "But maybe I don't have to," Vexen pointed, and Slade turned to see an angry Sora and his group, weapons drawn.

Slade paused for a moment, weighing his options. He then turned back to Vexen. "I see. But even so, that girl will no longer be safe here. I will see to it." And with that, Slade disappeared in a swirling mass of darkness.

There was a moment of silence before Vexen disappeared as well, leaving them to see the extremely weak state of Setsuna and Cygnus. "Cygnus!" Sora rushed up to him. "Are you all right!"

Cygnus strained to address him. "Don't… mind me…" he pointed a quivering finger towards Setsuna. "Setsuna…"

"Secchan…" Konoka nearly cried, shaking her near lifeless body. "Speak to me…" The others approached swiftly. "Secchan!"

----

Only a few moments later, Konoka sat within the bounds of a magic circle, the ornate creation used by Kamo to create the much coveted pactios. But its purpose now was entirely different.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sora asked Kamo, who was now on Negi's shoulder, a serious look on his face.

"If we use Konoka's latent powers, then we can restore Setsuna-san. It's the only way…" the ermine answered.

With the circle now glowing in power, Konoka began to whisper, "Secchan… you've always protected me… right? I wanted to tell you so many things… So please… wake up."

Konoka kissed her fallen friend on the lips.

A powerful light shined, eclipsing the entire area in a bright light.

----

Back at the Kansai Headquarters, the people inside began to fade back to normal from their stony state. Amongst those people was Eishun, who was caught by surprise as he found himself conscious again. He smiled softly, knowing exactly why he had returned to normal. "Konoka…" he chanted to himself.

----

"Whoa!" Sonic felt the magic power as well, as he came to a stop somewhere else in the forest. "What… was that?"

"That would be Miss Konoka restoring her friend," Vexen reappeared in front of Sonic, his arms folded. He turned to the blue hedgehog, a lopsided grin on his face. "Everything went perfectly according to plan. I was surprised you did not deviate in favor of the Keyblade Masters."

"I helped them out when I could, minus that fight they got into on the first day!" Sonic contested. "And that was because Sora wouldn't appreciate me hogging all the glory!"

"The fact still stands, Sonic," Slade reappeared from the darkness. "You truly have become loyal to the Sin Angel… that's a small surprise for us."

Sonic's eyes widened in shock. "SLADE!"

Vexen stared in annoyance. "Drop the disguise, Zexion. He can't see through it yet."

'Slade' sighed before his visage disappeared, leaving the silver-haired man in his place. Zexion continued, "I have to admit, causing the most conflict without getting innocent people in the way is something I'm not quite used to… gathering energy has been a chore."

"Doesn't it happen automatically?" Sonic asked.

"It does," Vexen answered. "But finding situations where that is useful has been most difficult… luckily this world laid it out perfectly to us." Vexen stared into the sky. "Zexion, you did influence the girl to leave, didn't you?"

Zexion smiled. "Of course. I even talked with her father, who understands the implications. I do believe that Yusuke boy will be around tomorrow."

"What? What's going on?" Sonic looked between the other two.

"You will understand tomorrow," Zexion answered. "Let's get back to Twilight Town."

And with that, they disappeared. Sonic stayed back for a moment. "This is getting a bit deeper than I thought." He smiled to himself. "I'm hoping Nodoka will keep an eye on things when we're gone." He quickly followed Zexion and Vexen into their portal and disappeared off the planet.

----

Negi stared in wonder at the house before him.

Eishun smiled as he walked beside Negi. "This is Nagi Springfield's summer vacation home… one he held many years ago. Please, come inside." He walked in, with the others following him.

Inside, they came to see a tall, narrow, but very comfortable home. An incredibly tall bookshelf stood in the foyer/living room reaching all the way to the three-story ceiling. Most of the house stood relatively spotless, even though there was no sign anyone had even been here for at least a decade. "So this is the house where my father…" Negi trailed off.

Once everyone was inside, they spread out, exploring and searching every nook and cranny in the house. Negi searched a bit more thoroughly. This eventually caught Sora's attention, and the spiky-haired boy asked, "Why are you searching for your father?"

Negi turned to Sora with a soft smile. "Six years ago, when I was just a little kid, my father rescued me from a mass demon attack… although everyone said he died ten years ago, right before I was born." He pulled out his large staff. "He gave me this staff, and disappeared right after that. Everyone has said that he's a great magician… I just want to be like him and see it for myself someday." He continued to browse through books as he kept talking. "My father left quite a legacy, so I have a lot to learn if I'm going to be a Magister Magi… the very best kind of wizard."

Sora grinned. "It's always nice to strive for a goal…" He looked up. "Mine has been to find all my friends… and put an end to all these troubles once and for all. So I can go home." With those last words, Sora flashed a cheeky grin.

Negi chuckled. Both walked up the stairs towards where Cygnus and Eishun were looking though another selection of books. However, what caught Negi's eye was a single, framed photo on a modern looking desk. Gazing into it, he saw a younger vision of his father among several strong warriors, including a younger Eishun. "Father…" He whispered to himself.

The elder man stepped forward. "That would be a picture of the Thousand Master and his comrades (including myself) 20 years ago."

"Comrades?" Sora asked.

"Yes. There was a war on this planet twenty years ago, and I fought alongside Nagi and his comrades. When peace returned he became known for many heroic deeds and became known as the Thousand Master." Leaving the heroes a moment to soak in that information, Eishun waited before he continued, "Amagsaki Chigiusa, that woman that fought us, had parents that died in that war. That is why she was seeking vengeance against this world… the darkness answered to her desire."

Cygnus thought for a moment, then muttered, "Perhaps those with evil intent lose the strength of their heart, and that's why the villains can never control it…" He stepped towards Eishun. "Umm… Mr. Konoe sir?" Cygnus ventured.

"Yes?"

"What was it that Ansem did here?" Cygnus asked.

Eishun thought for a moment. "Ansem too wanted to know the whereabouts of the Thousand Master… much like Negi-kun, he claims to have seen the man past the day of his death."

Cygnus thought for a moment. "When was his supposed death?"

"Ten years ago."

"With both Ansem and Negi seeing him, I guess something didn't add up," Cygnus answered. He looked over and noticed a sheet of paper with neat handwriting… something familiar to him roughly three months ago. "Huh, this is—"

Sora and a curious Negi peeked over the dark boy. Sora added, "That looks like Ansem's handwriting."

Cygnus and the others read:

_Much apologies to Eishun if I've corrupted this clean place. Nagi Springfield's appearance has disturbed me, since his reported death was ten years ago. Furthermore, I did not see the man in his home world. I am certain that the man is alive, but how is it then, that he left his world without a gummi ship or other device? I did some research within these walls and found that there were reports of dimensional rips within this world… I have not yet found a source for them. Perhaps other worlds may have the same story?_

_The days have not been peaceful without the Keybearers here, but Miss Maya has confidence they'll return. If they see this note, know that the Keyhole is here too. They should know what to do._

"The Keyhole," Sora said. Sure enough, when the spiky-haired boy looked to the ceiling, it appeared, silent and challenging. Sora looked at Cygnus. "You want to do this?"

"I don't know," Cygnus looked at his Keyblade. "It's still a token of darkness. I don't trust myself to seal a place just yet."

"Fine," Sora summoned his Keyblade, aiming it at the ceiling. "Just watch… and learn!" A white beam shot out, locking the Keyhole and eroding it out of existence.

The world was safe once more.

----

"So you're going now?" Negi asked.

"Yeah… so many places to see, so many things to do." Sora answered. "It's our job, to save worlds like yours."

"But we'll always have you in our hearts!" Goofy added sagely.

"Don't worry about us!" Donald added.

"It was fun hanging out with you guys and kicking Heartless butt," Asuna winked and grinned next to a shy and happy Nodoka. "Maybe one of these days we might see you again."

Evangeline stepped up to Sora. "I await the day I can test your strength, boy. You make sure to stay alive until then, okay?" She gave a wicked grin.

Sora nervously smiled and nodded, but eventually tapped his chest and gained his confidence back. "By the time we meet again, I'll be stronger! Just you wait!"

"Oh?"

"That's right, he'll toast ya!" Donald added.

"We'll wait and definitely see."

Eishun stepped outside as well. "We thank you for all your help, Sora-kun. We hope to see you again someday."

"Sora-san…" Negi walked up to the boy. He swallowed a bit, gathering up courage before he continued, "I think… from Ansem-san's note that maybe my father is out there somewhere… if you find him… could you tell him his son's been waiting to meet him?"

Sora paused for a moment. Slowly, a smile crept up to his face. He calmly rubbed Negi's forehead as he answered. "Sure, I'll be glad to tell him."

"Bye!" Everyone exchanged final farewells, up until—

"Hey wait a second!" Kamo exclaimed. "Where's Konoka-san and Setsuna-san and that Cygnus-san?.!"

----

Setsuna stood alone, her hair swaying in the gentle wind. _It doesn't look like I'll be staying here anymore… They've all seen what I truly am._

"Running away again… I'm almost insulted," Setsuna found herself face-to-face with Cygnus, his eyes glaring at her. "No wait, I AM insulted."

"What do you want, dark child? I'm leaving," Setsuna stated flatly.

"And leave the girl you care about behind?.!" Cygnus shot. "Tch, I think that's what makes you the monster… that half-demon stuff is child's play."

Setsuna's temper nearly flared. In barely concealed anger, she argued, "I am a danger to her now. As she has seen my form, it's too dangerous for her to be around me… I trust that Negi-sensei will take care of Konoka-ojou-sama," her anger quickly dropped, replaced by sadness. "I didn't want this day to come…"

This was shortly interrupted as she heard an all-too-familiar voice. "Secchan!" Setsuna turned to see her charge running towards her. "Where are you going?"

Setsuna hung her head. "I didn't want to have to face you when I left… but it was the law of my people that if I showed my true form…"

This was a big mistake. Konoka only hugged her fiercely before crying, "Why would you do such a thing? I don't care about your wings! I care about YOU!" Setsuna shuddered, willing the tears not to come back. "And besides… I have to go too!"

Setsuna's sadness quickly turned to shock. "Wh-what?.!"

Cygnus blinked. "Why?"

Konoka dried her eyes and continued. "Before that creepy silver-haired guy kidnapped me, he told me that there would be a time where I would need to go on a journey… to protect my friends and my family. That one-eyed man said as long as I stayed here… I'd be a target. I'd endanger my family and friends," She turned to Setsuna. "Maybe it's time I learned what's going on… not just with this world, but with the universe, too. Secchan, please stay by my side… I'll go with you!"

"O-ojou-sama…" Setsuna had been caught totally off guard.

"Do what she says," Cygnus said, pointing to the darker-haired girl. "It's the least you can do."

Setsuna looked at Cygnus for a moment before turning back to Konoka. She smiled as she answered Cygnus. "Fine. I'll go with Kono-chan, if that's what she wishes." She turned back to Cygnus. "There are people that I know not from this world… They seem familiar with you, dark child. But not friendly… Chances are this won't be the last time we clash swords."

Cygnus chuckled. "I'm not afraid of you, woman."

"Cygnus-kun," Konoka said, interrupting both. "It would be nice if we could meet again. I thank you for making things better between Secchan and me." She tossed something at him. Cygnus found himself looking at a new keychain for his Keyblade. "Until we meet again." Konoka and Setsuna walked off, holding hands together.

"You two… take care of yourselves. I have a feeling we'll meet again," Cygnus stared after them, a small smile on his face. "Even if we wind up becoming enemies, knowing my luck… As long as you two stay together, I could care less." He turned and walked away to find Sora.

(This ends the Negima arc.

In celebration of the release of Kingdom Hearts 2, the next episode will be dedicated to all those lovely members of Organzation XIII... now under the tutelage of the Sin Angel. Next time, Blondie (who we now know as Roxas) learns his name, meets more of his colleages and wonders why the hell Axel is out to get him in more ways than one...

The Yusuke reference in Ep 5 and in this one is in fact, the same Yusuke from _Yu Yu Hakusho_. Just in case anyone forgot.

Note: Spoiling KH2 for me equals death. I haven't seen past Sora's first visit to Land of the Dragons. Names however, are fine.)


End file.
